Pride
by RonTheRonin
Summary: The Shield's days are numbered. Family drama is abound. The star of Roman Reigns is rising fast and people are beginning to take notice. Jealousy is setting in, and also a strange relationship may be beginning to form. All of these obstacles and more stand in Roman's way. Will he stand strong or will his pride lead him to a fall?
1. The Takeoff

**Hey guys, once again I'm back with an entirely brand new story! My Roman muse started kicking me in the head so I didn't have a choice but to start a brand new Roman story! Definitely helps that he's my favorite member of the Shield as well...oh well, enough of the intro and pleasantries. Hope you all enjoy this brand new story and chapter!**

**Chapter One: The Takeoff**

Anxiety. Discomfort. Eagerness.

These three words and more could have been the perfect words describe the mixture of feelings that Roman Reigns was completely feeling right now. Sitting on the flight, he had been cooped up in his seat, leaned back and all just waiting patiently for this flight to take off. It was supposed to have left at 5am on the dot, but apparently due to the disastrous winter weather, the pilot informed him and the rest of the fliers that takeoff would not happen any time soon.

Upon hearing this news, the powerhouse of the Shield had taken it with a grain of salt. Really, travel delays happened all the time, so as often as a WWE Superstar traveled, this wasn't exactly news to him. However, upon sitting in the same plane, lounging for hours, and doing nothing, his boredom had gotten the better of him.

Pulling out his Galaxy Android phone, he placed it in position for him to began taking selfies. Yes, it had reached that point of boredom, but what was a guy to do? "Can't believe that we've been here since five this morning," the Samoan complained.

"Five?!" came a startling deep voice behind him. Unfortunately, Roman had already snapped the pic and upon looking at it, turned around to see his fellow colleague and friend Big E Langston with a hilarious looking paranoid face. "E, nice to see you. Didn't expect to see you on this flight," Roman commented.

Big E simply laughed a bit and shrugged. "Neither did I, but apparently Mother Nature has some wonderful plans in store for us this winter, wouldn't you say?" Roman smirked and nodded his head, swiping quickly on his screen as he went through some pictures.

"Yeah you're right, but let's make it to Hawaii first in one piece. Lord knows I need that climate right now," he said, sliding back into his comfort seat. Big E leaned over his seat, looking into Roman's phone. "Oh yeah, you Samoans don't stand a chance against this kind of frosty weather, do you? Don't worry my man, I got you."

The Intercontinental champion scoured the plane for flight attendants before his eyes landed on one. She seemed to be in her mid-20s and Big E figured he could turn on the charm. His awkward, weird, Big E-only type of charm that only he seemed to possess, of course. "Excuse me miss? Could you come here for a minute?" The woman's eyes immediately locked with his, and she came dashing right over. "Yes, Mr. Langston? What can we do for you? You know we'll do anything," she said with realistic enthusiasm.

The powerlifter couldn't help but smirk at that. "Yes you can actually. My friend Roman here is from the tropical type of climate and I don't want him turning into a blue popsicle, so can you make sure he gets all the warm foods as much as possible?" he said, as the flight attendant looked to Roman.

Roman looked back at her and flashed her a very genuine smile, adding, "could you do that for me doll? I'd really appreciate it." She seemingly nearly melted into his mere comments as her reaction nearly exuded with that of a fangirl's.

"Oh yes absolutely Mr. Roman Reigns! And you as well Mr. Langston! We'll do our grade-A best to service you!" she said, before taking off into the pilot's pit. As soon as she was out of their collective sight, the two bumped fists. "Works every time," Big E smirked as Roman nodded in agreement. At least they were going to get some serviceable treatment.

**2 Hours Later**

Finally, the plane was underway and in the skies. It seemed to be braving the winter storm pretty well, and Roman was holding up as best as possible. He imagined the lush greens and island shores as well as the coast water being within his grasp once more. All because he was going to a wedding. It wasn't just any wedding however; it was the wedding of his cousin Jon Uso and his soon to be wife Trinity Knight. Weddings were a huge deal in the Anoa'i family tree and nearly everybody turned out into droves.

This special wedding was scheduled to take place in Hawaii, and Roman couldn't have been even happier about that choice. It gave him a chance to get away from his issues he had been having with his teammates in the Shield. Months ago, when they aligned with the Authority, it seemed as if the Shield was as strong a unit as ever. Now however, was a different story it seemed.

Dissension seemed to begin slipping through the cracks when Roman put on a quite an MVP-worthy dominant performance at Survivor Series; scoring four eliminations and gaining the victory for his team single handedly. The doubt continued into the month of December at the TLC PPV, when Roman had an injured eye, and accidentally speared Ambrose, costing them the 3 on 1 handicap match against CM Punk. Roman claimed it was nothing, as did the other Shield members but everyone could see quite clearly the problems were starting to persist.

In the weeks following, Punk would face the Shield members one on one, besting both the psychotic Ambrose and the risk taking Seth Rollins in singles competition. However, when the self proclaimed Best In the World stepped into the ring with Roman, they put on a show for the ages, and when the dust finally settled, Roman emerged from the battle as the last man standing and the clear cut victor to further spread the doubt that the Shield could still stick together.

Finally, when the Royal Rumble had arrived, Roman Reigns had one clear cut goal in mind: win the Royal Rumble and go on to headline WrestleMania XXX to become the WWE World Heavyweight Champion. And oh so close did he come; he put on a memorable, impressive, record-breaking performance, eliminating 12 WWE Superstars, including the legendary Kevin Nash, Dolph Ziggler, and even Sheamus to name a few. He even eliminated both Dean and Seth; albeit Dean attempted to eliminate him earlier in the night. Payback was a bitch right?

Now, as he stared out into the white sky, he closed his eyes out. Were the Shield's days really numbered? He always said that from the day any superstar signed with WWE, their goal should be rising to the top and becoming the number one superstar in the company. Clearly, you couldn't do that when every single thing you do was a team game right? All he could do was hope and pray that his path would be made clear soon...really soon. Maybe a talk with his dad was in order. He was going to be in Hawaii for the wedding as well.

Another question that Roman pondered, although not that often, was the thought of his love life in the future. Given, as a WWE Superstar, you didn't really have time for that kind of stuff; but when the opportunity presented itself, you had to go out and take it. Whether it was a romance with a fellow wrestler, or having a wife and maybe kids at home while you travel the globe, having a romantic life outside of wrestling was a tough thing to do indeed.

Again, not the top priority on his mind right now, but the thought was still there. The sound of the pilot's voice coming through the intercom interrupted his thoughts as he listened. He could now see the lush islands below in Hawaii and that grin couldn't help but slide onto his face as he realized he was in paradise. Apparently the same thought had ran through Big E's mind as well as he seemingly woke up from his nap alert as can be, taking in the wondrous view.

After the pilot finally landed the plane on the runway, the Samoan stood up to grab his bags, nodding his head at the ever so grateful flight attendant, repaying her with a folded piece of paper, a special autograph placed in there just for her. Her day had officially been made.

Stepping off the plane, Roman waited for the rest of the WWE stars who were attending the wedding to hop off the plane. Along with Big E attending, some of the Total Divas cast members were attending, as was Daniel Bryan, Alicia Fox, Sheamus, Titus and Darren, Cody and Brandi Rhodes, and even the Divas champion AJ Lee shockingly enough. The rest of the Shield didn't make the trip, but in a way Roman was relieved about that.

Titus whistled at the glowing sun and the heat beaming on his bald head as he took in surroundings. "Well damn, I just might have to get me a timeshare somewhere out here. Maybe a condo or something because the weather here is simply gorgeous man!" Roman slyly grinned and nodded his head in approval.

"I hear you man. Always thought about taking up residence here myself sometimes. Now I just remembered why," he replied thoughtfully. The rest of the group nodded in agreement, except for AJ. "Eh, I don't see what's so special about this place. It just seems like the slightly warmer version of Florida with an island feel. Big deal," she said, rolling her eyes as she began rolling her bags along.

"Remind me again why you're here?" Roman asked, pulling his bags along as well. He didn't need snappy attitudes; especially not on the day of his cousin's wedding. AJ coldly looked at Roman with an empty stare before sighing and starting with a response. "Because your cousin/my bodyguard Tamina made me come. I just came to show my support, if that's what you want to call it," she said, shrugging and mockingly backing off. "That good enough for your tastes handsome?" she teased not so subtly.

"Baby girl, you don't even know," Roman replied, shrugging it off like it was nothing. He began to move forward with everybody else, no one in the mood to deal with AJ's antics for the time being.

"Can't wait for that wedding cake!" Big E shouted, making everybody laugh and breaking the awkward silence. Roman was thankful for that; today was going to be a long day and he wanted to make sure everybody had a good time.

**Down By The Beach: The Wedding of Jonathan Fatu and Trinity McCray**

The setup was absolutely gorgeous and beautiful; Roman wasn't afraid to admit that in the slightest. The benches were all set, the backdrop was as well, and everybody was finally starting to arrive, dressed up in their Sunday finest. Big E was the first to greet Roman.

"Roman, tell me how I look bro," Big E said, stepping back and flashing his dress jacket. Roman chuckled a little bit. "You look like a 5 star general man," he said. Big E's eyes widened once more, saying "Five?!" before offering his elbow to Alicia Fox, who gladly accepted it and took their seats. Turning around, Roman's eyes widened at the sight of Tamina, who was completely dressed up for this special occasion.

"Well look at you Tamina. Didn't know you had it in you," he crossed his arms, smirking as Tamina checked herself to make sure she looked okay. Turning her eyes at her cousin, she playfully glared at his gaze. "Keep it up cousin; you know I still got it in me to kick your ass," she commented. Roman held his hands up in defense as their mutual cousin Jey Uso also happened to walk by and enter the fray.

"Don't worry Ro, I got your back man. She's only got like six years and an inch on you," he said, sticking out his tongue and laughing hard, making Roman double over just a bit. "You're right Jey," he said, laughing before catching sight of the other guests coming down the beachside hill, among them AJ.

"Oh joy, family bonding time. It's not like you guys can't do that on the road right?" AJ said, immediately souring the mood between the cousins. Roman raised an eyebrow at Tamina, knowing that since she was the bodyguard of little ol' AJ, she had to put up with nearly all of the Divas champ's shenanigans.

As AJ skipped to her seat, Roman slowly walked over to Tamina and whispered in her ear. "Need me to spear her?" Tamina smirked a little before shaking her head. "Not yet. I got this cousin," she said, before turning on her heel and following AJ to her seat. Roman nodded before heading over to the front row and taking his seat.

The ceremony went beautifully planned, with both Jon and Trinity finally able to join together in holy matrimony, kissing and spreading their passion throughout the island. Jey started a "Tap That Ass" chant for Jon, only for his twin brother to flip him the bird as they ran off into the sunset. Roman clapped his hands together; happy for his cousin and at the same time happy for his family. They had gained a new addition and Roman was more than happy about it. Trinity was a sweet and lively person and Jon couldn't have gotten someone any better(and he couldn't have been any luckier according to Jey).

Eventually, nightfall began to cast its shadow upon the island shores of Hawaii, and everyone began to drive or walk back to their hotels, preparing themselves for the flight in the morning. Tomorrow, they would go back to being WWE Superstars, back to the busy lives they lead, and the problems and goals that they all had to set out and solve, and accomplish as well.

For the powerhouse of the Shield, that meant going back to hearing questions about there being cracks in the Shield. That meant preparing for war with the Wyatt Family, the demonic, cultist-like group who cost the Shield a chance to enter the Elimination Chamber match to compete for the WWE World title. When you stepped on Roman's dreams, he was going to make you pay.

This Samoan was ready for war, as were his comrades Dean and Seth. He definitely trusted them, but would that be the story coming out of the Elimination Chamber PPV? Only time would tell. His feet soaked up the shore line sand as his ears perked up at the sound of someone behind him. "What can I do for you Black Widow?" Roman asked without turning around, still acknowledging her presence.

AJ awkwardly bobbed her head back and forth, looking in every direction before speaking. "Tamina said you need to take your ass to bed, or else you're going to wake up cranky as a Samoan savage," she said, mocking him with a zombie face.

Still not turning around, Roman addressed her once more. "Why would she send you then?" he asked out of curiosity. "Don't worry about that Roman," was all AJ said, before starting to turn away on her heel. That was, until that strong hand of Roman's reached out and grabbed AJ's wrist.

"You sure to do like to talk a lot of trash. I think I know where you get it from," he said, staring AJ down into her cold, brown eyes. AJ wasn't fazed in the slightest, but that didn't mean Roman was going to back down either.

"I learn from the best, what do you expect?" she responded brashly. Roman shook his head in disappointment. "Well guess what sweetheart, I've beaten the so-called 'best', or did you forget? And while he's sitting on his ass at home, I'm taking on the best competition each and every night, owning the moment and owning the ring. I'm the future star of this company, whether you know this already or not so take notice," he warned. As he started to walk away, AJ began to cackle evilly.

"You're setting yourself up for failure and disappointment, and you don't even know it. Those buddies of yours, the 'Hounds'? They're gonna turn on you at the right opportunity, and you won't even see it coming," AJ warned. She then softly added, "trust me I know."

"Well I say you're crazy, as usual. I've got a war to prepare for, a war that I know for certain we're going to emerge victorious out of," Roman said confidently. With that, he released AJ's wrist and walked back to his own hotel, leaving AJ to shake her head.

Samoan pride. A useful tool to have, and also the source of a downfall.

**Well guys, tell me what you think! I'd love to hear your thoughts on this story! Read, review, and favorite! Thanks again for reading! Chapter 2 will be on the way shortly!**

**-Ronnie**


	2. Going to War

**Hey everybody, welcome back to chapter two of my Roman Reigns story! Hope you all are enjoying so far and continue to enjoy the ride that this story is going to take you on! And just remember, the worst thing you could possibly do is predict something. With that being said, here's chapter two!  
**

Chapter 2: Going to War

Roman entered the dark empty space of the arena that the Elimination Chamber PPV was being held at. Tonight, there was just a feeling about the arena in the air tonight. It was almost if you could sense that a massacre was about to occur. If Roman were a betting man, he would be willing to take that bet. Tonight, when the Shield and Wyatt Family were going to collide, it just might have definitively been the start of a war.

The only thing that the Samoan Thor was concerned about(secretly of course) was whether or not he and his Shield comrades would be able to stay on the same page. Too often as the dominant stable did they have the upper hand in most cases, but not now. There was a group that was just as equally dominant as them, equally strong in team dynamic and chemistry, and just downright demented.

Roman wasn't a blind man; he had seen the looks that Dean had been casting towards him as of late, specifically when he took down the World's Strongest Man Mark Henry without breaking a sweat, while Dean struggled to put down the mastodon of a man, squirming his way to a DQ loss to retain his title. After Roman defeated Henry, Dean appeared to go and make himself feel better by assaulting the already beaten Henry.

Roman didn't try to stop him, but it wasn't exactly like he approved of it either. Why attack an already beaten man? To him, that made you look like a weakling, and nobody in the Shield was supposed to be a weakling. He sighed to himself; tonight was going to be interesting indeed.

As he unpacked his bags, and started to get warmed up and ready for the battle tonight, a rustle in the doorway followed by the sound of falling clanging metal caught Roman's attention. If that didn't catch his attention, surely the hushed whisper and dialogue of "Crap!" would have gotten it for sure.

Making his way over to the mess, Roman found some switch on the wall and turned it on to get some lighting. "Well, I didn't know you liked to hang out in dark places," he said with a small smirk, as his eyes slowly darted up and down the figure.

"Speak for yourself," the discovered AJ Lee said. "I don't know why you weirdos like to hang out back here anyway," she retorted, dusting off her clothes and collecting herself. Roman simply shook her head. "The Hounds operate where we see fit. The darkness fits us just fine AJ," he said with a simple shrug as he started to wrap some tape around his wrists.

"I didn't know the Shield were a bunch of emo nerds. Then again, the all-black SWAT costumes should have given it away from the very start," she said wryly as she cocked her head to the right, studying the quiet powerhouse. One thing people didn't really pick up on about the Divas champion was that AJ was very observant of the people and her surroundings. Simply put, she was one smart chick. Something about Roman stood out to her though, something she couldn't quite put her finger on just yet.

"Last I checked, you were the one who read dozens of comic books and are currently dating an emo diva who's nowhere to be seen until recently. By the way, did you have fun in Chicago this weekend?" Roman smirked with his back still to AJ. He could sense her pride starting to swell up, ironically enough.

"How that went is none of your business Reigns. I blame that idiot bystander who had the nerve to take that picture and post it all over the damn world wide web," she sardonically responded, clearly insulted by the fact that people knew her business. Roman decided to push just a little bit more for the fun of it.

"Like it wasn't that obvious when you were given the weekend off for live events and house shows. Again, nobody's judging you. I know I'm not," he said, falsely putting his hands up in self-defense. The look on the face of AJ's face changed from insulted and hurt to one who felt as if they were being challenged. A deadly look for one Black Widow.

"Excuse me? Karma's a bitch Roman, so I suggest you watch what you say to me. Your cousin is already bullwhipped to the point that she'll do anything I ask or tell her to do," she teased, forcing Roman to snarl at the reference to his cousin Tamina. "Who's to say I won't do the same to you? You know, if the Wyatt Family doesn't massacre your ass tonight first," she retorted, widening her eyes to get her point across.

Roman had just finished putting on his undershirt and vest when he finally turned around to face AJ Lee. This girl really knew how to get under one's skin. "Girl, I will break your ass in half like you were bad news, remember that. And as far as the Wyatt Family goes, the Shield are going to rip the beards off their faces and shove them straight up their hillbilly asses," Roman said in a serious tone.

Roman finished lacing up his boots and began to head out of the room when AJ spoke up one last time. "Spoken just like your cousin the Rock. Too bad you won't even be half the man he is or have half the legendary career he enjoyed," she said, a dark smile crossing her features. She could have sworn that she heard a low growl escape from his lips before he continued on through the hallway.

Score one for the Black Widow.

Elimination Chamber 2014: The Shield vs The Wyatt Family

It was a battleground. It was what it was promoted to be: a war. The Shield and Wyatt Family both put everything they had in their tanks and repertoire into that match that enthralled the fans to help cheer them on even more. Roman had witnessed the scene before him.

Seth was completely on fire early on and throughout the match, risking his body soaring through the air like always and putting his body at risk, laying out both Rowan and Harper consistently. He was always the extreme daredevil of the group, and Roman was glad to have him on his side. After all, they were tag team champions together as well for a good while.

Then there was Dean Ambrose. The still reigning US champion acted as if one screw too many had popped loose in his head. It was a throwback to his days in the indies, where he was a complete loose cannon. Although they didn't exactly see eye to eye every once in a while, Roman knew that he could count on his Shield teammate when the chips were down. It did help to have a loose cannon too right?

But yet, as Roman surveyed the scene around him as he staggered to his feet, the Samoan powerhouse finally began to realize the task at hand. He was fighting a losing battle. So many times had the Shield been in this scenario; only they were the one that had the numbers advantage. They were the ones that were always on the giving end of a beating, never really on the receiving end.

Roman sighed to himself inwardly as the backwoods cult advanced closer toward him. With Dean and Bray brawling into the crowd and only Bray coming back, that didn't exactly bode well for his fate. Then, Seth was put through the announce table by Rowan and Harper with a double chokeslam, and with the Architect unable to move, Roman knew that he was out for the count. Then, as the bearded clan hovered over the Samoan Thor, he quickly powered out of their grasp, knocking each of them back and determined to fight off the odds. With flying forearm smashes to Rowan and Harper, followed by a Samoan Drop to Bray, Roman was fired up and the crowd was clearly behind him.

Just as he began to build momentum though, Bray came flying out of nowhere with a running shoulder block that just about blew out all the steam that Roman had. Picking him up, Harper came at him with a spinning discus clothesline that knocked him down flat on the ground. Dazed and confused, Roman still managed to stagger to his feet, until he tasted the cold leather of boot being connected with his face, courtesy of Rowan.

Bray Wyatt's face grew into a sinister grin, as he smiled towards the crowd. "This is the end!" Bray screamed aloud with a weird chuckle. "Bring him to me boys!" he called out as Rowan and Harper picked up the limp body of Roman Reigns. "Say goodnight sweet prince," Bray said, right before kissing his forehead as he did all opponents. The end was coming; Roman knew it.

Yet, as Bray was about to hit the Sister Abigail, something within Roman began to burn. It was like a brave warrior's spirit, brave and valiant, that refused to be defeated no matter the cost. It was his pride. Powering out of Sister Abigail, Roman made a valiant effort. He tossed Bray into Harper, before delivering a flying clothesline to Rowan, and tossing him out the ring.

Giving himself space from the Wyatts, Harper rushed at Roman only for the powerhouse to dodge and hit his spinning back suplex, better known in his repertoire as the Moment of Silence. He followed that up with a powerful Samoan Drop to Bray Wyatt, roaring to the electric approval of the crowd. Lining up in the corner, he pumped his fist like it was locked and loaded, and the fans exploded when they saw the theatrics. They were in line for a Superman punch.

Roman hit the Superman Punch on Rowan that sent him sprawling to the outside. Bray tried to attack from behind, only for Roman to counter and connect with a snap suplex. Soaring through the air and covering the length of the ring, Roman connected with another Superman Punch that sent Harper flying to the outside.

Tossing his hair back, Roman turned around to the one Wyatt that was left. Flying at him with superb speed, he connected with one final Superman Punch. Looking around at the carnage before him, he couldn't believe it. Was he actually about to beat the Wyatt Family single handedly? There was only one surefire way to find out: finish the job.

Lining up in the corner, Roman could feel the blood boil in his veins, the passion heating up in his emotions, and the rush of the moment coming at him full speed; he was operating on pure adrenaline now. It was time to end it with a Spear! Just as Bray was about to get up and Roman was rushing forward, Harper came running in and at the last moment ate the Spear instead.

Cursing silently, Roman didn't turn around in time to see Bray recover just enough to hit a quick Sister Abigail. That move right there took all the energy Roman had left and with that, he succumbed to the Wyatt Family. It was finally over; the Shield had lost. The Hounds had finally been tamed.

**Later That Night**

No words were said later that night between the Shield comrades; except for that of Dean Ambrose. "Look you guys, I told you, I brawled into the crowd and somebody knocked me out in the back of the head with something metal," Dean complained, but Roman and Seth just weren't buying it.

"That's bullshit and you know it man, I'm not buying that story one bit!" Seth yelled. "You got knocked out by way worse in Dragon Gate and the indies so why are you all of a sudden complaining about it?"

Dean held his head in pain as he glared at the two-toned extremist. "How about you take the shot that I did? Huh Seth? You wanna know what it feels like?" Dean quickly countered, turning his attention to Roman. "Anything you wanna say to my face big man?" he challenged, but Roman just stared him down and said nothing. Nothing but a glowering and betrayed look on his face.

"You know what, screw this I'm out of here," Dean said, grabbing his bag and heading for the nearest exit. Symbolically enough at that moment, the two of them had been standing in what seemed like a shadow of a circle that resembled a circular shield. When Dean left, so did a part of that shadowy circle. It was as if there truly was a crack in the Shield.

"See you tomorrow man," Seth said, clapping his hand on Roman's shoulder before picking up his own bag and heading his own separate way as well as more of the shadow began to disappear. Roman closed his eyes and shook his head. Tonight was too unreal; the Shield had truly been dominated and defeated, and it almost seemed as if he and his brothers in arms were beginning to split.

As soon as he picked up his bags, he looked behind him to see AJ skipping down the hall with a somewhat satisfied look on her face. After all, she may have lost her match by disqualification tonight, but she did retain her title against the screaming Cameron. Roman smiled an inward smile as well; it was nice to see Tamina superkick AJ, albeit "accidentally."

When she skipped right by him she screeched to a halt and turned to face him once more.

"Told you so," she simply smiled and began skipping his way. Roman quietly glared; one day he was going to break that girl in half if need be. If only Roman hadn't left the building right after; he would have heard the sound of metal clanging again, and AJ throwing a steel pipe in the dumpster. Perhaps Dean was telling the truth after all; but again, that was another reason punctuality was the thief of time.

All thanks to a conniving Black Widow.

**Well, hope you guys got a kick out of that chapter! Stay tuned for more in chapter 3, as more events transpire! Review and don't forget to tell a friend, it's very much appreciated!  
**  
-_**Ronnie**_


	3. Opportunities

**Hey everybody, just dropping through with another update for you all. Enjoy! Also, if anybody would like to see me do a story (companion) that falls in line with this one, PM to let me know who you want to consider. Enjoy!**

**Chapter 3: Opportunities**

The aches and pains were something that you were naturally going to feel as a WWE Superstar each and every day, and that was exactly how the enforcer of the Shield Roman Reigns was feeling today. Having just finished another round of house shows and clobbering his opponents once more, Roman felt somewhat satisfied, but not all was well with the Samoan. Not that long ago, Roman and his Shield brethren were given the opportunity to exact revenge and get their revenge against the Wyatt Family, the backwoods cult who had went to war and won. Not being satisfied with that, Roman had a confident air about him that this time around, the boys in black would get the job done. Except the boys in black weren't exactly on the same page lately. Dean had felt angered and betrayed that not only his brothers didn't believe his story from Elimination Chamber, but also at the fact that Seth Rollins walked out on them during said rematch. To be honest, if anyone was to walk out from the Shield, Roman had figured that it might have Dean. After all, there were times where he could really be a loose cannon. Roman knew deep down the architect had his reasons, but at that particular moment the anger was drowning out the voice of reason in his head. He wanted to rip Seth's head off like a rabid dog, but then again what would that accomplish? Nothing at all, so it was to his surprise when he had received a call from Seth himself.

Roman reluctantly took the call, allowing Seth to give a brief explanation of what he did, why he did it, and what exactly he had planned. The result was a planned meeting for SmackDown; entitled the Shield Summit as a last chance opportunity to reunite the Shield or completely break down and go their separate ways. There was a small chance in hell that it could possibly work, so he decided to go for it. SmackDown rolled around and when the Summit came about, both Roman and Dean stared Seth straight in the eye, looking for an ounce of betrayal somewhere in those eyes. He wasn't sure what Dean found, but Roman saw that the reasons Seth had for what he did was for the greater good. After all, he intentionally set this up to get the Shield members who WERE arguing back on the same page. He had to admit, it did its job and completely worked. Seth then put forward his fist as a show of unity. After staring down at the fist and giving it a long thought, Roman finally thrust his forward in a show of unity. They both then looked over to Dean; he seemed to be contemplating something in his chaotic mind. Finally, he put his fist forward to complete the triangle.

The Shield were officially back on the same page, and as Roman always said to everyone, they could believe that. Stepping out of his rental car, Roman slammed the door shut and went to collect his travel bag from the trunk. It felt great to be in the great state of Texas, San Antonio in particular. The culture of this city was definitely a plus in his opinion, and he had always wanted to plan a trip to take to the Alamo. Maybe another time.

Arriving at the doors of the AT&T stadium, Roman was surprised when he saw his cousin Tamina Snuka waiting at the door. When her eyes locked with his, she furrowed her brow. "I need to talk to you right now," she said with an urgent tone in her voice. She motioned for him to follow her into the building, leading him to the side catering room. "What's going on cuz?" Roman quizzically asked, not sure whether to grin or show a confused look on his face. He didn't know what was going on at all. Looking back and forth and between the halls to make sure nobody was coming, Tamina sighed and slid to the floor with her back against the wall. "I need you to help me get away from that little spoiled brat AJ Lee," she finally said, with sharp venom laced on her tongue at the end of her name. Roman took notice right away and shrugged.

"Well what do you want me to do? Spear her? You already superkicked her at Elimination Chamber; I don't see what's so hard to intentionally do it and finish the job," he said matter-of-factly.

"That's just the thing though Roman, I can't do it. I'm her only ally, or at least she thinks I am. Being attached to her will help me avoid getting lost in the shuffle of most of these other pathetic Total Divas," she said. Roman shook his head at that. He honestly didn't understand what people saw in reality shows. People acted stupid and indifferent for no reason just to try and become famous.

"I don't know why you're afraid. You know the fam's watching your back. Heck, you're even gonna be in Dwayne's new Hercules movie later this year, so I don't see how you could get lost in the shuffle really," Roman responded. Tamina shook her head in disagreement.

"They don't look at the divas the same way they do with your division. With us, they want to go by looks first and wrestling ability second. I know I'm a great wrestler but apparently lots of others don't feel that way. They'd rather push plastic before the real thing if you know what I mean," she said, nudging him in the side. Roman let out a small laugh. "Yeah I hear what you mean but-" Roman trailed off as the sudden appearance of the Black Widow herself temporarily threw him off.

"What do you need AJ?" he asked rather impatiently.

AJ laughed to herself. "So I see Tamina likes to go to her own family just to complain about little ol' me. Oh boo hoo Tamina, build a bridge and get over your feelings. I'm the only reason you're relevant right now. Thanks to me, you're one of the most feared Divas again. Keep your trap shut if you want to keep it that way," AJ demanded.

Roman raised an eyebrow as Tamina stood up on her feet and towered over AJ and glared at her menacingly. He thought she was about to strike her, but he couldn't have been more wrong. Instead, she marched off down the hall to the Divas locker room, prompting AJ to grow a grin on her face as she turned her attention back to the powerhouse of the Shield.

"Trying to convince your cousin to turn on me? You're a bad man Roman," AJ said slyly, as she slid her finger across his black-clad vest. Roman didn't move, but he didn't flinch either. "Aren't you dating that loser that walked out on us?" Roman asked, knowing he at least struck AJ's nerve slightly. AJ's grin turned into a soured look on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about. If I were you, I'd watch what I say as well-I mean after all, black widows can be bad luck you know," she said.

Roman scoffed at the last part of her statement. "I don't believe in superstitions, but I do believe in destroying injustice. Right now, looking at you, I'm seeing the biggest injustice of all wrapped around your waist. That shining, gleaming butterfly belt. It's high time you lost that thing, don't you think?" he said, holding on to his black and metal belt. AJ stared Roman dead in the eye, albeit a little bit shocked at herself. Normally her off-kilter gaze was able to throw off lots of the superstars and Divas, but Roman didn't seem one bit fazed in the least. So the Black Widow decided to try another one of her infamous tactics.

"So basically, what you're saying is you want to take my belt off me, am I right? Well unless you're all bark and no bite, prove it." AJ crossed her arms and smirked at the son of Sika, who shook his head.

"All head games sweetheart. I know better than that; you're just like the rest of those Divas in there." He turned to walk away, but AJ struck him in the back with a nearby folding chair. Roman slowly turned around, raising an eyebrow at her like she had lost her mind. Or maybe she already did.

"I am not like those Barbie wannabes in there! Do you understand me?! I am not like them!" she screamed at Roman, who clutched his belt once more and shook his head.

"Pathetic," he said, and turned to walk away completely. In the back, he could hear the shrill cry of the Divas champion; music to his ears. You should know better than to mess with the Shield.

Resuming back to what he was originally doing, Roman began rolling his bag to the Shield's locker room but just as he neared the corner, the door opened wide and out stepped the COO of the WWE, Triple H. "Hey Roman, just the man I was looking for. You got a minute?" he asked.

Roman stopped what he was doing and turned to face Triple H. "Yeah Hunter, what's up?" he asked. Hunter opened the door wide open like he was welcoming somebody to the gates of hell.

"Step into my office and I'll explain everything," Hunter responded, allowing Roman to walk in and have a seat in front of his desk. "Want a Fanta?" the Game asked, Roman shaking his head as he kicked his feet up on the side of the COO's desk.

"You know what, just for today I'm going to let that slide. Because we have important business to discuss today." Hunter took a seat in his comfortable chair and stared down Roman. "Now Roman, there's no denying that you're one of the fastest rising stars in this company and there's no doubt in my mind that you're also one of the stars that's best for business." Roman nodded his head in agreement.

"No doubt about that boss," he commented, making the COO slightly smirk to himself. No doubt some of the cocky swagger, confidence, and brashness resided within him the same way it did the Game 15+ years ago. Hunter continued on anyway.

"Your stock has clearly risen in the past several months. I mean dang kid, you eliminated four people at Survivor Series all by yourself, then at the Royal Rumble you broke Kane's old record of Rumble eliminations and even finished as the runner up to Batista," he said, making Roman nod his head. He loved to hear about his accomplishments, but hearing it from Triple H felt like another weird feeling altogether. "I think you've got what it takes to be the face of the WWE kid," Hunter finally said, making Roman raise another brow.

"I think I do too Hunter, but I'm pretty sure I need to become WWE World Heavyweight Champion first before I can lay claim to a title like that," he said crossing his arms.

"I understand your stance on that statement, but you have to realize just because you're not champion doesn't mean you can't be the face of the company. Just ask Cena," he said. Hunter was always smart and choice with his selection of words, but Roman was just as aware of what he was saying as well.

"Okay, so let's say I become the face of the WWE. Then what?" Roman quizzed. "Well it's simple kid. You get a big raise, megastar status, your own private bus and jet, everything that pretty much comes with it. Just one thing; you have to abandon the Shield. There's no way that you can take them to the top with you," Hunter said, his tone growing more serious.

"So you want me to backstab the guys I came here with just so I can achieve a higher modicum of success? Thanks but no thanks Hunter. I'll find my own way to the top. I'm not stabbing my brothers in the back just to get ahead like you," he snapped back, standing out of his chair. Hunter glared at the Samoan superstar, shaking his head.

"You're just letting your pride talk for you, and quite frankly it's ridiculous. You're just like your cousin; too proud to do something that will help him get ahead in the business," he quipped. Roman immediately snapped and put his face in Hunter's.

"The difference between you and the Rock is that he's actually ambitious. You, on the other hand, feel the need to sleep your way to the top and create multiple factions and stables to protect yourself and hide the fact that you are a terrible and crappy wrestler who didn't deserve half the things that were handed to him." With that, Roman stormed out of the Game's office without another word.

"Kane, get your big red behind in here right now," Hunter said, about to snap. Kane immediately came in to the room, with his suit and tie in full view.

"What is it Hunter?" the corporate monster asked. Kane himself had been victim to a couple of beatdowns from the Shield themselves.

"I need you to know this: the Shield is no longer an asset to the Authority. They've way outlived their expiration date and now need to be buried once and for all. Put the hounds down," Hunter demanded.

"With pleasure," Kane grinned mischievously.


	4. Kane Strikes Back

**Chapter 4: Kane Strikes Back**

There was an intense silence that enveloped the Toyota Center parking lot on a mild chilly night in Houston, Texas. In the middle of the parking lot stood a dark circle, with three guys in black clad gear making up that circle, all with symbolic dark hoods on. Amidst the chills and nervous tension in the air, the three members of this justice-serving brotherhood were trying to find some type of balance.

"So are one of you gonna start talking to break the silence, or do I have to do everything myself around here?" Dean said, sarcasm dripping from his words and tone. Roman gave a sarcastic chuckle, shaking his head at his partner's arrogance.

"Man, when are you gonna learn? This has been a team thing since day one, and yet here you are spotlighting yourself once more," he said, Dean's face grimacing and souring at the same time seemingly.

"You're one to talk big guy. You just had to go and make the show about yourself huh? Remember Survivor Series?" he poked, trying to antagonize the big Samoan. "Or does Royal Rumble ring even more of a bell? Flexing like your muscle headed cousin Dwayne," he snarkily added.

That last statement prompted Roman to step forward into the confines of Dean's face. "Don't disrespect my family like that. Last I remember, at Survivor Series you were the first one eliminated. Then at the Rumble you tried to eliminate me, but I fixed that problem real quick. And if you still got a problem, then we can settle that issue right here, right now." Roman's fists tightened, as did Dean.

The maniacal member of the Shield did not like being upstaged or seen as the weak link, something that had torn at him since his turbulent childhood. He wouldn't let his jealousy or anger show though, at least not now.

Before the two egos could come to blows, Seth, the constant peacemaker of the group, stepped into that role once more. "Would you two hot heads knock it off? We need to get on the same page here, and show some damn unity. Is that so hard to do? I don't even know why I associate myself with you two egotists sometimes I swear," Seth said, unleashing his verbal two-toned fury. He stepped into the middle of the group to hold both Roman and Dean apart from each other.

"Well, if we didn't have such spotlight hoggers, we wouldn't be in this position Sethy boy," Dean commented, making Roman raise an incensed eyebrow towards him, before shrugging and giving a confident chuckle. "Well Dean, it's not my fault that I'm the most popular Shield member," he grinned, irking Dean. Ambrose wasn't the only one who knew how to push somebody's buttons or get under their skin. That just might have been Dean's biggest weakness.

"Enough you two! Just enough of this bull!" Seth finally exploded. "Can we just agree to disagree? We are all an equal-minded, unstoppable force which the likes of the WWE and wrestling world have never seen before! We are the Hounds of Justice, harbingers to the negativity that is injustice, we are the Shield!" Without any further hesitation, Seth pushed his fist forward to the center, waiting for the others to do the same.

Roman quickly stared from Dean to Seth, thoughts rushing a million miles a minute through his head, but what the heck, they had stuck together this long, so why not? Maybe it was time they change the focus on their group and becoming a united front again once more. The Samoan Thor pushed his fist forward next to Seth.

They then looked to Dean once more; who seemed to be calculating in his head the hyperbolic theory of chaos and relevance. "Dean, come on. Are you in or are you old?" Roman asked, making Dean scoff before pushing his fist forward as well. "Yeah yeah, you crybabies I'm in," he squandered.

Seth nodded his head. "Good. Now we need to focus on the real threat here, and that's the Authority. Kane thinks we're here to do what he says, and enforce his orders." Roman shook his head. "Well he picked the wrong fence to jump across and the wrong dogs to bark orders at," he coolly said, rotating his head and neck in dramatic effect.

"You're right boys. You know, for someone who deems themselves a future politician, he doesn't seem too bright these days. I worry for the future of our country if he's ever elected president," Dean quipped, causing his Shield brothers to smirk and nod. Seth spoke up once more.

"We've been booked in a fatal four way tag team match to determine the number one contenders for the Usos' tag team titles, so this is our opportunity at taking the first step to claim back our gold," Seth nodded. He had to admit, it made him feel a little giddy inside to see both Roman and Dean cooperating and getting back on the same page once again. "By the way, the card has me and Dean teaming up for the match Roman," he told Roman, while Dean put in his two cents as well.

"That alright with you big guy? You fine with letting the smaller guys get some shine for once?" he poked, clapping Roman on the shoulder, while Roman simply shrugged. "Yeah go ahead, you know I'll be at ringside, covering you guys in case somebody tries something," he said.

"Appreciate it. We'll see you at the curtains in a bit, now come on Seth. Let's go see if we can't pull one over on the Big Red Doofus," Dean retorted, headed back into the building with Seth in tow.

WIth his teammates gone, Roman took the opportunity to look up at crystal clear midnight sky. No clouds or anything, just a complete new moon filled out across the sky with scattered stars. It was quiet moments like these where he enjoyed the silence, allowing him to catch up on things he was particularly thinking about, and relishing in his successes.

When you lived life as a WWE superstar, it always seemed like you were living the fast life. Always performing night in and night out, autograph signings, media sessions, as well as promoting the company brand. But at the same time, Roman knew that he was bred for this business. The wrestling gene was in his blood, and throughout the family, so he knew that he was going to be destined for greatness. That may have been his pride getting the better of him, but he knew he had the work ethic and commitment to back it up.

Sitting on the hood of his car, he didn't even hear the trunk kick open, the hidden individual revealing herself to be none other than the Divas champion AJ Lee. The Black Widow hopped out of the trunk, slamming it shut and grabbing her title as she cocked her head to the right coyly, gazing at the Shield powerhouse.

"Everywhere I go, I run into you. I have something you want or what?" Roman inquired. He wasn't bothered by AJ's presence, but he was really curious to know as to why she kept following him.

"I wouldn't say all that now Roman," she said, casting a dark smirk on her face as she gazed into his eyes. "It's just really fun getting to know you and your family," she said, pulling an adorable look up onto her face, as she placed her title around her waist. She plopped right next to him on the front of the car as they both looked up into the night sky.

"Beautiful night huh? I always love coming to Houston. It's like this place was meant to be Space City," she mused as Roman looked at her in slight surprise but nodded in affirmation. "Yeah well..it kinda is already." AJ rolled her eyes at his attempt to annoy her, but she took it in stride nonetheless.

"Houston, we have an injustice and his name is Roman Reigns," she smirked, and unexpectedly for Roman at least; he managed to actually burst into a fit of laughter. "That's for that dig at my beautiful Divas championship the other day," she added, as Roman shook his head. "Fair enough AJ, I deserved that. Still though, why are you hanging out with me? Everywhere I go, there you are."

"Well I find you Samoans to be very interesting people, but sometimes Tamina can be such a drag queen and her personality is sometimes more stale than wonder bread," she exclaimed, exaggerating with hand gestures as Roman rolled his eyes. "Lay off my cousin," he warned.

"Oh don't worry, if I can find a better bodyguard, then I will," AJ quickly quipped. "You know who else has been getting on my nerves lately? Vickie Guerrero. That fat slob of a pig keeps booking me in matches against those redundant Total Divas," she complained. Roman shrugged like he didn't care.

"Sounds like a personal problem," Roman surmised, before AJ grabbed his wrist and stared at him deeply, as if she were looking into his soul. "What did you just say?" she said in a cold tone. Roman wasn't one to ever hold back, so he followed it up with an insult that was sure to wound the Black Widow.

"I said how's CM Punk?" Roman said aloud, as AJ's eyes widened to that of a deer caught in the headlights. Her hand loosened her grip of Roman's wrist, who in turn quickly snatched it away. "Well? How is he? Everyone in the locker room would sure as hell like to know," he said, crossing his arms and staring AJ down.

"I can't believe you just said that," AJ said nervously, heaving between breaths, as tears finally began to form and started streaming down her cheeks, making Roman felt taken aback a bit. "I just wanted to help you," she said, taking a spare shirt she carried in the form of a rally towel of sorts in her back pocket, pulling it out and burying her face in it.

"AJ that's not what I meant-" Roman started, but AJ quickly cut him off at a moment's notice. "OF COURSE that's what you meant you jerk," she spat venomously, hopping off the car and staring Roman dead in the eye. "By the way, the New Age Outlaws are lurking around somewhere. I think Kane and the Authority may have hired them to take you guys out," she said bitterly. "Whether you believe me or not is up to you."

Roman was expecting her to do something else vengeful, but instead she dried her tears, did an about face, and simply skipped away, leaving the Samoan Thor to scratch his head. Clearly he didn't understand what going on in her head one bit, but given that the Outlaws were in the building tonight, he knew the Shield had to watch their backs. Could he trust AJ though? That was the billion dollar question of the evening.

SmackDown: Fatal 4-Way Tag Team #1 Contender's Match

Roman stood ringside, staring down all of the opposition while serving as the enforcer outside for his Shield teammates. Looking at all the teams in this match, Roman really liked their odds. These were all teams that the Shield had beaten before, and was completely sure that they could do it once again. The toughest team in the match had to be the Real Americans. They were a well-oiled machine, backed up by their manager Zeb Colter, who in recent times were experiencing dysfunction similar to the Shield, but now appeared to be on the same page once more.

Also in this match was Ryback and Curtis Axel, sadly known as the team of Rybaxel. Ryback had a long history and tension with the Shield, which made Roman even more satisfied knowing that he had never beaten them and was saddled with dead weight in Curtis Axel, who was about as exciting as watching paint dry. Roman had no idea why they even allowed him to win the IC title last year. Frankly, Big E made for a much better champion.

Last, but most importantly least in this match from Roman's perspective was the members of 3MB. Drew McIntyre and Jinder Mahal were going to be wrestling the match while their leader Heath Slater would be cheering them on from ringside. Why on earth Kane decided to book them in this match was beyond Roman's range of reasoning. Quite frankly, they were never a threat to anybody and nobody could recall the last time they had ever won a match.

So again, the odds were stacked against the Shield, but the Hounds of Justice were confident that they would come out on top. Unfortunately for the three hounds, they were walking right into a trap. Roman started to pick up on it early on when the other tag teams weren't necessarily fighting each other, but constantly working over Dean in the ring and mocking Seth Rollins repeatedly.

Eventually, Seth got the hot tag and came flying in like a house of fire, tearing everybody down and getting some explosive offense. Then the rest of the tag teams entered the ring and all hell broke loose. As Seth was going for the Blackout, Heath Slater pulled his foot and made him trip to the cold canvas, prompting Roman to leap into action and spear Slater in half. Nobody would be able to put Slater back together again after that move.

As soon as the Samoan powerhouse turned around though, Corporate Kane came through, blindsiding Roman and attacking the beast. Refusing to let the big red sellout get the better of him though, Roman started to brawl with the monster up the ramp, nearly getting the upper hand. When brawling with tall and big beasts, Roman knew he would have to take up his intensity a notch in order to knock this guy down. Finally reaching the stage, Roman managed to finally take Kane down to the ground.

However, before he could power up for signature Superman Punch, the powerhouse was blindsided once more by two surprise opponents: the New Age Outlaws. The Outlaws pummeled Roman down to the ground, delivering stiff right hands and knee drops to keep him down, allowing Kane enough time to recover and deliver a stiff big boot to the face of Reigns. Once they had him down for the count, Kane grabbed Roman by his long Samoan hair, and dragged him all the way down the ramp to the ring, with the Outlaws in tow. Tossing him in, the trio looked on in pure evil joy as Ryback delivered the ShellShocked to Dean, and Seth eat a Neutralizer from the uber-strong Cesaro before the teams all filed out. Kane rolled Roman into the ring, preparing to finish off the job once and for all.

"I told you boys, you're easily replaceable!" Kane shouted, staring down at the beaten bodies of all the members. Road Dogg immediately grabbed Dean and delivered a thunderous Pumphandle Slam. Billy Gunn noticed that Seth was still trying to make it to his feet, and assisted in delivering a vicious Fameasser to keep him down as well.

Roman, who finally had started to come into his own, felt the cold grasp of the Big Red Machine's hand clasp around his throat, and before he knew it, he was being lifted into the air and thrown down back first on the canvas, courtesy of a powerful chokeslam from Kane. "I told you not to mess with the Authority. Now you're gonna learn a powerful lesson the old school way," Kane said, staring over all the prone bodies of the Shield members before them.

Backstage

The Shield, all sore in their own right, made their way backstage, writhing in pain over the assault that was struck upon them. Roman held the back of his head in pain; very bitter was a feeling he wasn't used to having, but when dealing with Kane, he had a feeling he would get used to the feeling very quickly.

"I can't believe we let those idiots get one up on us. I mean, come on, the New Age Outlaws? Were any of you expecting those has-beens to attack us?!" Dean proclaimed, clearly frustrated from the results of what happened tonight. He kicked a trash can over, scaring the oncoming Fandango and Summer Rae into another direction.

"I don't know man! My strategies are always bulletproof! I don't know how that could have happened. This is crazy," the Architect of the Shield exclaimed, throwing his gloves down onto the ground. Roman looked to his teammates, understanding their frustrations. Clearly they were set up.

"We weren't ready, plain and simple. Whoever sicced them on us though, forgot to finish the job. We're gonna make their asses pay, and I think I know just where to start. I'll see you guys tomorrow and fill you in on the plan," Roman said, grabbing his vest and heading in the other direction. "Stay safe," he said quietly.

"You too Roman," Seth and Dean said simultaneously.

Just before he reached the arena door entrance, Roman looked to his right to see a smirking AJ emerge from the shadows. "So do you believe me now?" she said, coyly cocking her head to the left. A grimace crossed his face as her smirk continued to silently mock him; she was right about the Outlaws being in the building all along.

"Well, what do you want me to say? You were right so congratulations," he said with a huff. Crossing his arms, he watched AJ's expressions closely. The girl could write a comic book based off her facial expressions alone, among other features.

"Aww, poor Roman it's gonna be okay. You got your butt kicked; it happens. You're just not used to it," she teased, and Roman quirked an eyebrow at the Black Widow. "What's wrong Roman? You look nervous," she continued, poking at him. "I don't get nervous AJ. You should know that by now," he said, his facial expression resembling that of a stone statue: not changing.

"Well then…" AJ said, and without further thought scaled Roman, wrapping her legs around his waist and her thin arms around his muscular neck. "How about now?" she said, smiling like a vixen. Roman shook his head again.

"To quote a friend, NOPE." The look on AJ's face changed once more to a state of annoyance, not satisfied with being unable to faze the Samoan powerhouse. However, fate would have her back on this one as a very close relative to Roman turned the corner.

"Hey Roman, I heard you in the halls. I needed to talk to-" the voice of Tamina Snuka trailed off when she saw the image of her very own ally wrapped around her cousin. It felt like the ultimate betrayal; like she had been proverbially stabbed in the back. "I confide in my cousin, my own family to be exact, about a personal problem and this is what you do to me Roman?" Tamina said, trying to stay calm, but not doing an able job of it.

"It's not like that Tamina, she hopped on me-" Roman started but Tamina threw her leather jacket at his face to shut him up, storming off in pure anger and frustration. When she left, AJ looked back to Roman, an evil smirk dead on her face. "Well that's one hot tamale," she teased, before Roman detached AJ from him, sitting her on a bench.

"We're Samoan, not Hispanic AJ, and that's enough of that," he warned. "I don't know what your game is or what you're playing at AJ, but this is the Reigns Game now, and if you mess with Roman you get speared."

AJ shifted, adjusting her shorts and her title belt, before once more responding. "Well if it's Roman's game, then nobody's more experienced than me. Trust me, I'm used to taking the Spear," she said, and with a wink to Roman, grabbed her bag and skipped out the front doorway, leaving the powerhouse shaking his head.

"It's always mind games with her I swear. Maybe I should spear her," he wandered aloud. While no one was exactly physically around to hear it, a cell phone was. It wasn't just any ordinary cell phone either; it was the phone of AJ Lee, and unaware to them both; the speed dial option had been used minutes ago, and unfortunately it dialed the LAST person either of them would have wanted…

The self-proclaimed Best In the World, CM Punk.

* * *

**Well there's quite an intense chapter four there! Hope you all enjoyed it and don't forget to leave a review! Also, this story takes place alongside my friend Cody'sxFavoritexGirl's fic Insanity starring Dean Ambrose, and we have a joint Seth Rollins one as well coming soon so stay tuned!**


	5. Make Them Believe(In The Shield)

**Chapter 5: Make Them Believe(In the Shield)**

What a busy, instrumental week it had been for the Hounds of Justice. Upon taking one heck of a beating from Kane and his corporate lackeys, the New Age Outlaws, the Shield had been insistent on getting revenge against the teams who had officially wronged them in that Fatal 4-Way Match. Roman was loving every bit of it.

During Raw, the team of Ryback and Curtis Axel were in the middle of a stiff battle against Los Matadores. Rybaxel had been given tag team title shots at WrestleMania for the role they played in the decimation of the Shield that previous SmackDown, so they expected to roll through the luchadors with ease.

That was not to be.

As Ryback was in control in the match, the Shield's entrance music hit the arena and the crowd erupted into cheers. As they both looked to the crowd, all three Shield members came storming down the stairs like storm troopers, and they approached the barricade, silently waiting and staring down Ryback and Axel. That distraction alone gave Diego enough time to roll up Ryback into a pin and get the three count to escape with the victory.

As soon as the Matadores left, the Shield immediately leaped the barricade and surrounded the ring, before finally attacking the duo. Curtis took a nasty Spear from Roman, and rolled out of the ring, writhing in pain. Turning their attention to Ryback, Roman hit the meathead with a thunderous Superman Punch to take him down, followed up by Seth hitting his Blackout maneuver. Dean grinned maliciously as he finished off Ryback with the Dirty Deeds, previously known as the Headlock Driver.

"Let's do it boys," Roman said as Dean and Seth nodded, prompting the powerhouse to roar aloud, the crowd proud to partake in it. Setting up for the Triple Powerbomb, the trio lifted Ryback high, and just as they had done when they first debuted, they hit Ryback with the Triple Powerbomb, sending him crashing back down to earth.

Roman, inwardly of course, felt excited and couldn't stop smiling. It felt good to get some payback with his comrades, serving out justice where they saw fit. It finally seemed as if everything was finally coming full circle. Later that night, with the Shield in action against the Real Americans, they would exact their revenge on another tag team once again as Roman took out Cesaro with a gut-crushing Spear and Superman Punch combination. As Seth and Dean both took out Jack Swagger with ease using their finishers, they both turned their attention to Roman, who roared once more.

"Time to put this fool through the table!" Roman yelled. Lifting Cesaro up, the Shield sent him crashing through the announcer's table. "That's how we do it!" Roman yelled once more, as Seth cast him a surprise glance. "Dang man, take it easy. I've never seen you so hyped," he said, with a slight chuckle.

"Can't help it man. Getting payback is a great feeling," Roman said, as the Shield made their way to the backstage area, the crowd cheering them on raucously. Dean slapped the both of their shoulders, and grinned. "Boys, we are officially back in business. Don't sleep just yet though; this isn't over until we take out the Big Red Fax Machine," he quipped.

"Right Dean. Don't start a job that you can't finish Kane!" Seth yelled out to no one in particular. Roman smiled as he sat down on a crate, grabbing a nearby full water bottle, and dousing himself with water to cool down his simmering hype.

"Dude, they need to put you in a Head and Shoulders commercial," Dean snickered, while Roman shot a quick glare at him, but then calmed down. "Hey, that's an endorsement deal for me you know," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

"He's right Dean, that's a great way to get yourself in the mainstream," Seth countered, pointing out the obvious and making the sadistic Ambrose roll his eyes. "You're such a honey comb Seth," Dean said, making Roman snicker a little bit.

The jokes and games were all in good fun, but the mood quickly soured when a certain Divas champion passed by them, a passive-aggressive look on her face that quickly turned into full-blown evil, glaring directly at Roman. The Samoan powerhouse simply raised an eyebrow at the angered AJ, thinking she was trying to pull another ruse of some sort.

"What the hell are ya doin' here sweetheart? This is Shield territory, so just run your little self back to the other Divas okay? Or do they hate you too?" he said snobbishly, prompting AJ to react back in self-defense.

Lifting her leg back, she released it forward for a powerful kick in the family jewels for one Dean Ambrose. Dean's eyes widened in shock, as he kneeled over, falling to the side as Seth burst into laughter at the fallen Shield member, whilst Roman shook his head.

"No, I just hate you," AJ responded, flashing a quick smile before turning her attention back to Roman with a grim look on her face. "You, however, have some business with me that we need to attend to," she noted, prompting Seth to step in.

"Since when? I haven't seen you associate with him, or any of us for that matter," the Architect said, crossing his arms. "Well, that's because you're not always around idiot," AJ responded, "now shut up before I hit you with the Blackout, and I don't mean the back of your head either." Seth scowled at the stubborn Diva, before going over to help Dean up.

"You and me, let's go. NOW," she said, as Roman shrugged and followed her without hesitation. 'You spear that cow for us Roman!" Dean called out, before Seth clamped his mouth shut with a hand over it. He didn't want them to become victims of the Diva even more.

AJ led Roman over to a lengthy, but seemingly empty hallway, as most of the staff had clocked out for the night and were headed for the hotel to get a decent amount of sleep. As they stopped, AJ turned to look Roman in the eye. "I really, really hate you right now," she said, trying to calm herself down between breaths.

"Well that's shocking. Care to tell me why?" Roman asked out of curiosity. AJ glared, nodding slowly. "Yeah, I guess I'll tell you why. Kofi pulled me aside a day or two ago, and you know what he had?"

"I don't know, a mango smoothie?" he asked, as AJ did her best to stifle a laugh and keep her angry, stern look on her face. "No Roman, he doesn't have the Jamaican gimmick anymore," she said in a low tone.

"He sure as hell still has the theme music though," the Samoan Thor quipped, causing the Black Widow to turn her back to him so that he couldn't see her face.

"Would you just shut up so I can finish?" she said, in a muffled tone, still trying to hide her laughter. The quips he had dished out had caught her off guard, and she was really trying to keep her stern face up. So far, not so good.

"Anyway, Kofi pulled me aside and gave me my cell phone back, something I didn't even know I had left behind. I normally carry two phones on me, just in case when I'm travelling," she said, glancing around the hallway to make sure nobody was lurking around unexpectedly. "Apparently, when I was talking to you the other day, one of my phones slipped out my back pocket."

Roman nodded his head. He didn't understand one thing at all about where this whole thing was going, but he was going along with it for now. It beat AJ being mad at him and kicking him in the Anoi'a family jewels. "Okay then what?" he pressed on. The Black Widow sighed immensely.

"I did a butt speed dial...to Punk," she said quietly, looking at Roman briefly before quickly looking away. Roman crossed his arms, observing the Divas champion. Such an interesting figure she was; he didn't even understand the logic behind some of her decisions, but that was one of her defining characteristics that he dug: she was capable of crazy tendencies. Ironically, he already had a crazy stable mate in the Shield in Dean, so it made sense right?

"I don't seem to see the harm in any of this. I butt dial my brother at least seven times a month, and he doesn't trip out about it. You worry too much," Roman said.

"I know, I know, but what if Punk heard the comments about us...spearing," she said rather awkwardly, not that Roman didn't mind.

"Well then, he'll just have to-"

"DEAL WITH IT!" Roman and AJ both turned to look down the hall to see the Animal Batista, decked out in a designer jacket with skinny jeans and all, making his way towards the exit. "I don't care what CM Punk has to say, I'll steal his girl too Kingston! Don't call me with any more of your crap, or I'll spear the both of you in half!" With that, the Animal flipped his phone shut and pushed it back into his pocket.

As Batista approached Roman and AJ, he paused and then stopped. "Can you believe this guy's crap? That walkout has the nerve to accuse me of conspiring to steal you AJ. Now I'm not saying that I can't, but nowadays that's just something that I don't do. Had the nerve to say you and I were talking about spearing each other. Either way, I didn't do anything and he's just gonna have to accept the facts and DEAL WITH IT!" With that, Batista pushed through the door and was out for the night.

"Well then…" Roman said, before looking at AJ. "You know you're gonna have to tell him the truth right? It'd be an injustice if you didn't." AJ kept nervously running her hands through her hair, dryly laughing to herself and humming a song to herself that everything was going to be alright.

"AJ? Calm down," Roman calmly stated, and that's when AJ snapped. "Calm down? You calm down Roman! My boyfriend, CM Punk, the Best In the freakin' world, thinks that Batista of all people, the public man-whore of the wrestling industry, is fooling around with me! Are you freaking kidding me?! It doesn't get any worse than him and his skinny jeans!" she exclaimed rather loudly. Her eyes glowered as Roman leaned back against the wall, shaking his head and laughing to himself. "What in the blue hell is so funny Roman?" she said, her tone seething.

"Your boyfriend is an idiot. I sound nothing like Batista at all April. That's like saying Brock Lesnar roars like a lion. It's pitiful," he commented, as AJ began heaving. "He's not...stupid!" AJ yelled, starting to swing her arms at Roman while the big Samoan did nothing to stop her, knowing that the crazy Diva would tire herself out, and as expected, she did. But not before tears started to stream down her cheeks as she buried herself into the clad-like vest of Reigns.

Normally, Roman hated being stuck in a situation like this, but he was the helpful type of person. After all, protect and serve was kind of what the Shield were sticking to now. "Look, it'll be okay. It's not like he's mad at you or anything. He just wants to beat the skinny jeans off of Batista is all. No one will find out about what was said, because it's between you and me only anyway, okay?" he said, forcing AJ to look up at him.

When she did, the tears were gone. All that was on her face now was a completely innocent, adorable look that resembled the one she gave Punk two years ago when he got her to stop crying. "Okay," she simply said.

Roman sighed a deep sigh of relief. "It stays between us," she agreed. "By the way, I heard that you talked to the Usos about Tamina's issues with me. Just for that, I'm gonna make Tamina be Nacho's honorary pooper scooper for WrestleMania week," she stated, making Roman shrug.

"Yeah...okay. Good luck with that. I saw she fed you to the wolves tonight, just saying," he said, flashing his trademark cocky grin.

"Whatever," AJ said coyly, casually letting a small grin slide across her face. "So...I guess I'll see you during WrestleMania week?" she asked.

Roman nodded his head. "Believe that." AJ nodded her head, and as if she was satisfied, skipped away, leaving Roman to grip on his vest once more as he waited for his Shield teammates to meet up with him.

And peeking through the window of the general manager's office was one Vickie Guerrero, quickly scribbling notes down and taking silent pictures with her phone. Her quest to destroy AJ Lee was finally about to come full circle.

**Another chapter, more twists, and more swerves! Hope you all enjoyed that chapter, and stay tuned for more goodness from the powerhouse of the Shield Roman Reigns, and feel free to leave a review, they are much appreciated! Also, be sure to read "Insanity" by Cody'sxFavoritexGirl, starring Dean Ambrose!**

**One Love,  
-Ronnie**


	6. RoMania

**Chapter 6: RoMania**

* * *

The festive atmosphere along with the New Orleans culture filled the air and scenery during WrestleMania week, as parades continued to march down the busy roads with jazz bands abound, playing that signature jazz sound that everyone had come to know and love. It truly was that time of the year: WrestleMania season.

WrestleMania week was nothing new to Roman; he had experienced his first WrestleMania week last year at WM 29 when the event took place in the New Jersey area. There, he and his Shield teammates picked up their first victory in their first Mania match, defeating the major heavyweight tandem of Randy Orton, Sheamus, and the Big Show. There may have been some dissension, but hey, who else can say they picked up wins in their WrestleMania debuts? Being rookies at that? Not very many people at all.

It was Thursday morning, and while some of the superstars and divas were out and about, doing media interviews, enjoying the NOLA restaurants, and more, Roman was headed straight for the gym. The powerhouse of the Shield enjoyed the festivities and all, but he could not ignore the calling of the gym. Even when you're having fun in the WWE, you still have to work.

Roman walked into the Hard Knocks facility, duffel bag in hand, and breathed in the fresh air. The fresh, musty air of weight lifters working their hardest to get and/or keep their body in shape, and he was honored to join them. Changing into his gear, Roman turned up his music, ready to get into warrior mode.

He lifted and pushed through his limits, his music driving him to his limits, inspiring him to push beyond his boundaries and roar. His roar echoed throughout the gym walls like the pride of a lion, making others take immediate notice. The roar was so loud that even the face of the WWE, John Cena, dropped his snowcone onto the ground.

"Well dang son," he commented, as Roman sat the weights down and sat up, giving a slight chuckle. "Sorry man, did I scare you?" Roman asked, wiping his forehead with his Shield towel merchandise. It paid to promote your brand wherever you went. That was part of the reason why John Cena was so successful in the merchandising department. Roman was definitely taking notes.

"Not as bad as Bray Wyatt does," John joked, rummaging through his own duffle bag as he put away some of his own merchandise in the bag. "Well that's a shame. I guess hillbillies are actually pretty scary after all," Roman smirked, ribbing the Cenation Leader.

"You should know that already Roman. You lost to them firsthand," he laughed, changing back into his normal shirt. "Besides, that Luke Harper guy looks like the hillbilly version of Luigi," he noted, Roman nodding his head in agreement. "Yeah he actually kind of does now that you mention it. So you ready for Bray? Dude's a lot tougher than he looks," Roman commented, noting the color in John's eyes beginning to shift a bit.

"Son, I've been doing this for 12 years now. I may have admitted fear, but cowardice is a choice, and I'm no coward. I'm gonna face Bray head on and I'm going to come out on top. I'm going to protect my legacy," John said, firmly placing his ball cap on his head. "I'm the top dog and I've been in that role since 2005. The future of the WWE runs through me," John said confidently.

Roman nodded his head in agreement. "You're right Cena, it does. And when that moment finally comes, I'm gonna be that guy that you're passing the torch to. I'm definitely gonna be a major player for years to come in this company and I want to be number one," he finally said, standing and coming face to face with John Cena.

"Well, it's like I always say. You want some? Then come get some," he said confidently, as the two stared each other down. Not one move was made, and nobody flinched for certain. It was a bone chilling staredown, with time seemingly frozen around them. Finally, Roman spoke up once more.

"It would be my honor to win the 2015 Royal Rumble and go on to headline WrestleMania 31 against you John," he said, still not flinching. John however, remained unfazed as well. "Well then son, John Cena vs Roman Reigns for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship in the main event of WrestleMania 31 sounds like a winner to me," John firmly stated.

"With me as the special guest referee," came the high-pitched tone of AJ Lee, as she smiled at the two guys before her. John took his cap off his head, laughing nervously a bit, before shaking his head at her. "After what happened at TLC 2012? No thanks, I'm good. See you later Roman," John said, clapping the big Samoan on the back before walking out the gym.

"I kissed him a couple of times you know," AJ pointed out, Roman obliviously rolling his eyes and let loose a small chuckle. "Yeah I saw that. You also had an affair with him and screwed him over in the end," he pointed out. AJ mischievously grinned at Roman, raising her eyebrow. "I'm not saying I didn't have an affair with him, but I might have," she said, slightly pulling the ends of her hair in a sing-song voice.

"Well congratulations. Glad to hear it worked out well for you," Roman said, trying to get his focus back on lifting weights, ignoring AJ for the time being. As "Number One" by Nelly blasted through his earphones, Roman noticed that something felt different about this weight bar. It felt more lightweight, yet more firmer at the same time.

"What the hell?" Roman inquired, before looking up to see that AJ had replaced the weight bar with herself instead. "Well Mr. Reigns, I didn't know that you had such a firm grip on everything that you grab," she teased, before Roman tossed her. AJ however, still managed to land on her feet.

"And she sticks the landing!" Roman said mockingly, before continuing. "Seriously AJ, why do you keep following me everywhere? No matter where I go, there you are." AJ coyly turned her head to the right, studying Roman's tattoo. "I don't know Roman. Maybe you intrigue me, or maybe you're just not boring like nearly everyone else in this company. You tell me hon, I mean after all, you do like 'Roman' my body with your eyes," AJ said, without giving a second thought.

Roman sighed, putting the rest of his workout gear away into the duffle bag. "How does he put up with you?" AJ grinned once more, making the Samoan just a little bit awkward. "He doesn't Roman. Because he's never here with us," she whispered, her face morphing into that of confusion and sadness.

"Are you okay? Should I call Dr. Shelby for you?" Roman asked, half jokingly and half seriously. That prompted AJ to take an open water bottle and splash it completely all over Roman. "Don't you dare even joke like that! I hate that idiot! I can't even believe I hired him…" she said, her voice trailing off. Roman flipped his long hair back once more, as if he were in a hair shampoo commercial catching AJ's eye.

"I love when he does that," she said to herself quietly. Roman smiled to himself, glad to catch what she said. "Well AJ, I don't know why you're wasting your time flirting around with me. You already make hell for my cousin, and on top of that you're dating a walkout-" AJ cut him off with the five finger stinger, aka the slap, straight to Roman's face.

"Don't you disrespect him like that! You don't know him at all so what gives you the right to judge his decisions?!" AJ shouted, pushing her fists into the Samoan's chest. Roman wanted so bad to just snap the Black Widow up and break her in half, but something just wouldn't allow himself to do that.

"Nobody's judging anybody. I'm just telling you what he did. Looks like the pill of truth is a hard dose for you to swallow," Roman smirked darkly, putting the rest of his items away and heading for the gym locker room. AJ, who wasn't a stranger when it came to entering the men's locker room, followed right behind him.

"What do you think you're doing short stuff?" Roman exclaimed, as he tossed his muscle shirt to the side in the locker. AJ did her best not to distract herself as she continued on. "I'm doing whatever the hell I want Roman. Apologize for what you said," she demanded, gritting her teeth in anger.

Roman shook his head. "I don't think so April," he said, kicking off his shoes to the side. AJ let out a medium scream before digging her nails into his back. The powerhouse didn't yell, but he did his best to stifle the roar that was about to come out of his mouth. "What's wrong Roman?" AJ laughed maniacally. "Got too much pride to scream? Or are you afraid that your scream will come out sounding like Brock Lesnar?" She grabbed a hold of his neck, trying to wrestle him down.

"Get off me you pipsqueak," Roman growled, finally grabbing the cusp of AJ's shirt, hurling her forward into the wall and ripping her shirt in the process. The Black Widow gasped, before screeching aloud once more. Roman covered his ears just in case to prevent internal bleeding of some sort. "That was my favorite shirt you ass!" she screeched, and started to run towards him at full speed.

The powerful Samoan was way too quick for the pint-sized Diva, leaping overhead and grabbing the bright light rafters above him. "You're not going to get away from me that easily coward," she said. Denting a pipe that was connected to the steam in the locker room, AJ broke it off and put it between her teeth, climbing the lockers to try and get a better reach of him.

"It's true what they say about your family. You've all got mad hops," AJ said, laughing a bit maniacally. Steam began to spread out across the entire locker room, blinding everything and making it extremely hard to see for both combatants, if that's what you wanted to call them. "Oh Roman, where are you? I just want you to apologize for what you said to me. If you do, I'll give you a specially autographed copy of Doom, signed by your cousin the Rock! Did you know that this movie really sucked? I mean, _really sucked_, so bad." AJ continued to ramble on, whilst clanging the metal pipe against the ground, trying to lure Roman out.

The big Samoan was ready though. Pumping his fist like he was powering it up with some type of energy source, Roman flew through the steam and hit the pipe out of AJ's hand with the Superman Punch. "There you are!" AJ exclaimed, clasping on to Roman's back and driving him into the wall by sticking her fingers in his eyes.

He ran wildly until he slipped and they fell, albeit Roman landing on top of AJ. With Roman breathing heavy, holding his eyes from the burning, AJ crossed her arms dissatisfied. "Well are you gonna?" she impatiently said.

"Believe that," Roman said in a dark tone. Grabbing the young Diva by her hair, he pushed her up against a shower head, spouting out steam like a locomotive train. He crushed his lips against hers, running his tongue across the front row of AJ's teeth. It almost felt like he was living inside a moment in the ring. His intensity was ablaze, he was fired up, and quite frankly eating up the livelihood of the moment. Most importantly, there was the rush that was there.

"Mmmm! Mmmm…," AJ struggled against the strong grasp of Roman, instead, closing her eyes and melting into the majestic moment that came with making out in a steamy hot locker room ironically. The pull that she felt jerking on her hair felt just right to her; why hadn't she considered doing this before? Because of the fact that her relationship was weighing heavy on her head.

She had to admit, Roman was doing a great job of pushing that to the back of her mind as he continued to massage the back of her temple, and their tongues wrestling each other back and forth inside of a roofie style cage match. Roman kept rubbing the sensitive spot that felt warm to her the most, causing her to squeal and moan.

Just as she would beg him to complain and stop, the Samoan would let out a low growl that would send chills up her spine and keep forcing her to press on as their lips collided with each other's every time. "More.." she lowly whispered into Roman's ear, grasping his hand and pulling it over to the zipper on her short shorts. Roman slowly zipped them down, and before he made another move, he grinned, and dropped AJ down to the ground.

"Ow! What the hell did you do that for?!" AJ immediately snapped, slapping Roman in the face. The Samoan held his cheek before glowering at AJ, shaking his head. His hair was very humid; it had thickened, and covered the majority of his face. He heavily sighed to himself.

"Saving myself from making a further mistake," he coldly said, grabbing his gear and leaving the room, just as Batista walked in.

* * *

Roman exited the gym to run right into his family, namely Jon Uso and Trinity. "Dang cuzzo, you look like you just got slaved to death in a sweat shop!" Jon said, laughing hard enough to get Trinity to shake her straight face and laugh a bit too. "Sorry Ro, but he's right," she said in between laughs, but Roman brushed them off.

"I guess you could say it was one hell of a workout," Roman commented, his thick puffy long hair hiding the look on his face. "I bet," Trinity said, studying the Samoan's hair intently. "You have some other type of smell on you though Roman. You sure all you did was work out in there?" she questioned. Jon stopped to think for a moment, before finally catching on.

"Really fam?" Jon said, leaning over in laughter once more, as Roman shrugged his shoulders and delivered a devout huff. "You tell me Jon," he simply stated.

Before more words could be exchanged, shouts could be heard from the gym from which Roman had just emerged from. They all tuned in to get a listen.

"You think you can get away with harassing my girl?!" the figure in a blue hoodie shouted. The larger figure, who they were able to make out as Batista, responded back aggressively.

"I already told your skinny, fat ass that I didn't do anything to AJ! Why the hell would I want her anyway? I'd destroy her!" Batista proclaimed, shoving the smaller man.

"Touch me again and I'll tear your face off and wipe it on this pavement," the smaller figure claimed. Batista shoved the smaller man once more, and this time his hood fell off, revealing the figure to be the man who walked out on the WWE: CM Punk.

Punk tackled Batista through the window of a local Starbucks shop, hammering away with fist after fist. "Get off me!" Batista shouted, and using his lower leg strength, kicked Punk off of him and over the coffee service counter. Punk rebounded back by grabbing a container of fresh hot black coffee, and splashing it in the face of the Animal. "AAagghh!" Batista roared, trying to fight the burning sensation of coffee in his face. Punk took advantage, leaping over the counter and hitting a flying clothesline to take him down once more.

Not satisfied however, Punk gripped Batista's neck into his arms and tried to lock in the Anaconda Vise, but Batista reached out for a coffee glass, smashing it onto Punk's arm and giving him a bloody elbow.

"I told you I didn't touch your stupid flithy, one trick pony you piece of skinny trash! All of this just because I'm main eventing Mania and not you. **DEAL WITH IT PUNK!** Once you're out of the way, I may as well just put her on my conquest list! 'Things To **Do** Before I Retire.' Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?"

Punk glowered once more, not allowing Batista to gloat any longer. Reaching his right foot up, his kick connected with the jewels of the Animal, causing him to fall over and reel in pain. Leaning over to Batista, Punk mocked him. "I guess you really are a failure at being a real man. I don't see how you're in pain, but whatever. I guess you'll just have to **DEAL WITH IT, **now won't you?"

The Second City Saint stood up once more, satisfied with the result of what had been done. WrestleMania week had just started, and already it had erupted into chaos. "That'll teach him not to touch my fiance," Punk said, dusting his hands off. Some of the wrestlers around as well as the crowd before them dropped everything that they were doing at that particular moment, and gasped. Had Punk really just said the word fiance?

Punk had indeed said the word fiance. Everyone who knew Punk knew that he wasn't the marrying type so this surprise did indeed come as a shock to everybody. "What are y'all looking at?" Punk said, marching out of the coffee shop, annoyed by the belligerent stares directed at him. AJ followed in suit.

"Hey, you okay?" Punk asked, wrapping his slender arms around the frame of AJ and embracing her deeply. AJ was relieved to be back in the arms of her man, the one she loved at that. "Yeah I'm fine. Thank you Punkers, for everything," she said, enveloping him in a deep kiss that radiated and resonated between the now engaged couple.

As AJ kissed Punk, she opened up her eyes as they connected with those of Roman's, who offered a small smile, but also showed slight disappointment. The small smile was followed by a simple shrug, and then Roman walked off into the sunset of the New Orleans road, causing AJ to let out a slight tear.

No harm done right? No foul play or anything of that nature. Just the matters of the heart. A broken heart. A broken heart and wounded soul of a warrior. Roman had made the mistake of getting attached to someone he traveled with in the wrestling business, and most of the time that didn't work out. At least tomorrow was WrestleMania. That was definitely for sure the one thing he could look forward to on the calendar. Despite an ache in the heart, Roman could for sure look forward to Spearing somebody.

Believe that.

**Totally shook things up again right? Naturally! Stay tuned for chapter 7!**

**Peace Out,**

**-Ronnie**


	7. Hungry Are The Hounds

**Chapter 7: Hungry Are The Hounds**

"These masks make us look like beasts Seth. Nice work," Roman complimented, studying the vicioius dog masks Seth Rollins had manage to whip up over WrestleMania weekend. They redefined what a vicious hound truly looked like.

"Thanks man. They don't call me the Architect of the Shield for nothing!" Seth bragged, while lacing up his boots for their upcoming match. The Shield were completely in the zone and hyped up for their match. After all, it was the night of WrestleMania 30, and they wanted to put on a show that would leave an imprint on each and every fan's memory of what they did.

"It's remarkable, considering you can't build a statue to save your life," Dean griped, "but still, these masks look pretty damn awesome if I do say so myself." Roman shook his head and snickered as Seth threw a pair of ring gloves at Dean. "Like you've ever crafted any type of masterpiece in your lifetime Dean," Seth quipped before Roman calmed down.

"Alright guys, let's stay focused here. We've got some old timers to destroy. We need to show the world that the Shield are the new symbol of excellence so tonight let's send a message boys," Roman proclaimed as the trio all donned their new hounds masks. They all disappeared through the curtain just before AJ could come and knock on the door. The Black Widow sighed to herself. Times were rough lately indeed.

**The Shield vs Kane & The Outlaws**

The Shield immediately interrupted the New Age Outlaws' entrance, deadset on getting revenge on the legendary tag team for taking them out weeks ago as well as Kane. They leaped the barricade and immediately attacked the opposition, flying left and right like a pinball in a pinball machine.

Roman pumped his fist and hit his signature Superman Punch on both Road Dogg and Billy Gunn, sending them sprawling outside the ring. Just as the duo got to their feet, Seth and Dean both came flying out at them directly with sick Suicide Dive attempts. The crowd popped huge as Seth screamed like a rock star, enthralled with the enthusiasm and passion of the WrestleMania crowd. Dean almost lost it as well, getting caught up in the moment.

However, Kane met the both of them on the outside of the ring with massive uppercuts to the head. Rolling into the ring, Kane grasped the throat of Roman, but the powerhouse powered out of the Big Red Machine's grasp with ease. Not to be outdone, Kane hit Roman with another uppercut. However, Roman bounced off of the ropes and used the momentum to trounce Kane with a Superman Punch, followed by his vicious Spear.

Road Dogg and Billy Gunn emerged from the outside immediately, attacking the Samoan with a two on one advantage. That would not be the case for long as Dean clobbered Road Dogg from behind, hitting his newly named finisher Dirty Deeds, as Seth hit the Blackout on Gunn. The three hounds looked at each other, a grin spreading across each of their faces.

Roman looked up to the center of the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, and howled loudly. The Shield weren't just going to beat the Outlaws, they were going to utterly destroy them as well. Dean and Seth both picked up Road Dogg and Billy Gunn and set them on each side of the powerhouse's arms. As Seth positioned Billy and Dean positioned Dogg, the trio launched forward with a new never-before-seen move, the Double Triple Powerbomb.

Once Seth pinned Billy Gunn, the crowd roared with the approval, chanting 'believe in the Shield!' Roman couldn't help but let a huge smile cross over his face. Once again, he had garnered another WrestleMania victory on the grandest stage of them all, and this time it was at WrestleMania 30.

**Backstage**  
Roman stood looking at the plasma TV screen in shock alongside a couple of others; still overcome with shock. How had the Streak been broken? And by Brock Lesnar of all people? That type of honor wasn't bestowed upon anybody and what made Brock so special to be the one to break it? Roman wouldn't question the Deadman's decision, but it was still at most a head scratcher.

"Now that's an injustice," Dean yelled, kicking a couple of boxes over as Kofi scoffed. "Hey, watch it man!" Dean flicked off the Ghana native, who rolled his eyes and went back over to comforting some of his fellow superstars who were still teary-eyed over the dark deed that Brock Lesnar had committed on this evening.

"Wow. I can't believe the streak is over," Roman said quietly to himself. "I had always dreamed of getting the honor to face the Deadman at a future Mania," he added quietly once more. The look of shock could be seen across the faces of every superstar backstage. Roman continually stared at the screen as he saw the Deadman stand up, looking at all of the fans. Although some were very unhappy, they all gave a round of applause and a standing ovation to the Deadman, who at this point, had seemingly delivered his final curtain call. Roman found himself clapping for Taker as well, completely out of respect.

"Congrats on a well done career Undertaker. We'll see you in the Hall of Fame one day," he said, bowing his head in a moment of silence.

"I wish he would have got his revenge on you and the Shield and buried them alive," came the voice of one cocky and confident AJ Lee, fresh off yet another successful title defense. This time, the Black Widow managed to somehow beat 13 divas in one single match to retain her title. Hell, she was closing in on 300 days as champion now.

"Me too. Guess it won't happen now though so you can leave with your broken dreams," Roman said, making AJ glare. "Hey, no need to get nasty with me like that. It's just wishful thinking," AJ said, shrugging as she stared at Roman from behind.

"If you're here to apologize, you can go in the other direction with that crap," Roman sounded off, before AJ could speak another word. "Guess you like testing the waters before you fully commit to somebody, am I right?" he inquired.

"Hey, knock it off! Look, I'm sorry and I don't know what came over me, but things happen. I get caught up in moments a lot and I have trouble controlling my desires sometimes," she said, taking a seat next to him on the crate. Roman still didn't bother sending a look her way. She tried to place her hand into his, but he gave it a warning squeeze and she quickly withdrew her hand.

"Look I said I'm sorry okay?!" she screeched, starting to get crazy upset again. "You should be telling that to your fiancee CM Punk. If you're lucky, maybe he won't walk out on you like I'm about to do right now," Roman sounded off, getting to his feet. "See you."

Roman walked off down the corridor, allowing the maniac in AJ to burn wild once more. "You act like it's all my fault! Just for this, I'm going to torture Tamina like you could only begin to imagine!" she screeched, causing Roman to pause and then shake his head. "Tamina's a big girl. She can handle you herself and besides, it's not like you guys are exactly on the same page anyway," Roman said, and then quietly chucking up a deuce sign, departed from view.

Instead of screaming, AJ did the opposite. She curled up into a ball and sobbed to herself. She had ruined everything that was brewing between them. What started as an innocent game of flirtation could have turned into so much more, but then she thought back to that day when Punk had proposed to her. It was completely unexpected, and quite frankly the most exhilarating moment she had ever experienced in her life. Would she really throw away all that they had just for a flirt game with Roman Reigns?

Her mind was too clouded and confused to make any sudden judgment calls at the very moment; for now all she had to worry about was one thing, and that was her 'baby', her precious Divas championship. Well, that and Tamina for now at least.

**Two Days Later, After Main Event**  
It had been about two days since Roman had last spoke to AJ and for him, the less he saw of her the better. What had happened between them was a huge mistake over WrestleMania week, and it wasn't something he planned on duplicating another time. After all, his father Sika and his uncle Afa had passed on some knowledge about getting involved in other people's business, and there was always a right time and place to do so, but AJ's was not the place to be in.

Helping Daniel Bryan though? The Shield made that their business. It was always the group's mission to serve up justice wherever they saw fit, and right now, there was no bigger injustice in the WWE than the Authority. Roman had informed both Dean and Seth about how Triple H confronted him and asked the powerhouse to betray the rest of the Shield and join up with the Authority.

The very notion of that angered Dean to the core, causing him to kick over multiple boxes in complete anger and assault some of the backstage security before Roman and Seth got him under control once more.

"I'm gonna tear that big nose off his face, and shove it somewhere he used to sticking things," Dean angrily spat. Roman chuckled as Seth scratched his head in confusion. "You mean like a burial site?" he asked quizzically, causing Dean to roll his eyes. "Of course Sethlock Holmes. What the hell did you think I meant?" Dean sarcastically responded.

Seth threw his half-eaten sandwich upside Dean's head, prompting a chase of revenge as the sadistic Ambrose pursued the two-toned Rollins. Roman shook his head as he watched them flee towards the gorilla position.

As he walked, the attention of a certain blonde reporter caught his eye. "Well hey there baby girl," he subtly teased as the reporter turned around. Yup, it was Renee Young alright.

"Hey Roman, how are you?" she said, flashing a bright smile at the Samoan. "Eh I guess I've had better days," he said, beginning to unravel the tape on his wrists as the Canadian watched on. "I don't know, you seem to be having a good time to me," she said confidently with a smile. "I mean, you guys finally beat the Wyatt Family and you completely obliterated the Authority at WrestleMania. Then you speared the COO of the company!" she said, nearly jumping out of her high heel shoes.

"Easy now Renee, or you might start giving people the wrong idea about us," he grinned, wiping the post-match sweat off his forehead as he got a burst of laughter from her. "Right okay Roman, whatever you say," she said with a slight grin. "I'm sorry, what's my name?" Roman purposely asked.

"ROMAN REIGNS! ROMAN REIGNS! ROMAN REIGNS!" she said loudly and proud at that. "That's my girl," Roman smiled, as he put his gloves into his pocket, but on second thought, pulled one of them back out. "Here, take this glove. That way if anybody ticks you off, you can just give them a Superman Punch," he said cooly.

"I shall wear it proudly," she said in a jokingly serious tone, placing it in her purse. "I'll see you around Roman," she smiled, as their eyes locked for a few moments, before she finally headed off in the other direction.

Roman gripped his vest as he watched her leave the arena, just as Dean and Seth finally arrived back. "Aww man, come on don't tell me you hit on her without us man! That's not cool!" Seth complained as Roman smirked.

"Just face it, you guys can't touch me when it comes to women," Roman said, heading in the other direction. It felt good to be free, doing the things he wanted to do for a change. If only it could truly last.


	8. You Don't Want War

**Chapter 8**

The COO of the WWE Triple H paced back and forth in his office fervently, thinking a thousand thoughts a second at a mile a minute. These past couple of days, it seemed as if the Authority's power had shifted a bit and now these young, upcoming and hungry superstars were starting to steal the spotlight from right under them. He took a moment to think about the tragedy that was WrestleMania, at least from his personal perspective.

Daniel Bryan was the new WWE World Heavyweight Champion. Hunter couldn't believe it all. 8 months of trying to keep Daniel Bryan away from the title and in the end, all his efforts were wasted, on the grandest stage of them all. Not only that, but he practically beat all three members of Evolution, and that was what hurt him the most.

Then there was the Shield, the ragtag band of rebels he thought he had control of under his thumb, but boy was he certainly wrong. The black-clad trio rebelled against he and the Authority, crushing Kane and the Outlaws at WrestleMania. The following night on Raw, they cost Triple H a shot at winning the WWE World title when they showed up to save Bryan from a beatdown at the hands of Randy Orton, Kane, and Batista.

To top it all off, Triple H took one of the most vicious spears he had ever felt at the hands of one Roman Reigns. The powerhouse of the Shield, Hunter knew he was the one that delivered the heaviest blows of the group and was always called upon to go for the kill to help the Shield win their matches or get them out of a pinch. This was the same guy who Hunter offered into his fold to join the Authority because he saw the most potential in him. Instead of joining Hunter, Roman turned his offer down, angering the Game that much more.

He wasn't about to take flack from anybody, least of all, the guy who had the nerves to put his hands on a company official. He was the Cerebral Assassin, the guy who was always one step ahead of his competition. He would find a way to break the Shield and break Roman Reigns, and make him pay for his sins.

Without warning, Hunter's door slammed wide open and both Randy Orton and Batista came storming in with angry scowls on their face abound. "Hunter, I demand to know what the hell is going on here, and more importantly, when am I going to get my title match?!" Randy shouted, slamming his fists on the desk. The ire of the Viper was fervent, but it didn't faze the Game one bit.

"You'll get it when I say you get it," Hunter calmly said, before turning his attention to Batista. "Got anything you wanna say to me while we're at it Big Dave?" he asked, a trollish grin on his face. "Yeah, I got something to say to you Hunter. You clearly don't know how the hell you're supposed to run a business. I come back and I see you behind a desk with a suit looking like a corporate stooge, and you've made this loser Randall here your face of the company-"

"Hey hey! You're just gonna have to deal with the fact that he likes me better than you! DEAL WITH IT!" Randy shouted, quirking his eyebrows in an angry fashion to taunt Batista. "You're funny Randy. You're just mad because I always was the better Evolution member. Hell, none of you can beat me! The only reason he made you champion was because I wasn't here! You're the biggest corporate suckup I have ever seen," Batista responded, prompting Randy to attempt an RKO, but Batista reversed it, sending Randy flying over the desk onto Triple H.

"DEAL WITH THAT!" Batista yelled, popping his pecs to mock the Viper. Randy immediately got ready to recoil and strike back, but Hunter grabbed him from behind and threw him into the Animal, downing both volatile men. "Enough! Both of you! I don't have time to deal with your crap, your incessant whining, and whatever else you wanna cry about! This is why I wanted to make myself champion to begin with!" Hunter scolded, before straightening his tie out once more.

Hunter directed his attention back towards his former Evolution teammates and shook his head. "Look, both of you are going to get your rematches with Bryan in due time, but for right now we need to focus on taking out the bigger threat right now, and that's both Bryan and his little rebel group, the Shield. We take them out the picture; you'll get that much closer to what you truly want. Got it? Remember, when Evolution is on the same page, we're unbeatable."

The Game put his hand down in the middle, waiting for Batista and Randy to put their hands in the middle as well. The Animal huffed to himself, before reluctantly putting his hand in the middle, and Randy followed suit. "Good to know we're on the same page then," Hunter claimed, while crossing his fingers behind his back.

With the door wide open once more, Vickie Guerrero waltzed her way in, with a slightly sinister smile on her face. This woman had been out to get AJ for the longest, and when she had finally lost the title to new Diva Paige, Vickie felt as if she wanted to jump into the sky and explode like it was the 4th of July.

"Excuse me, Mr. Helmsley, you know that I'm going to be leaving the company soon, but I didn't want to leave without giving you a parting gift that will benefit you in the long run," Vickie politely said. "Like I said, corporate suckup," Batista commented, but Vickie ignored him. "It involves AJ Lee and Roman Reigns."

"I'm not worried about AJ Vickie. If you have some useful information about Roman though, I'll take it," Hunter said, staring Vickie down and making her tremble just a little bit. "Well sir, I think they might be having an affair, and I have photographic proof to solidify my theory," she said, reaching into her purse and handing him the photos.

Hunter glanced through the photos pondering; he saw photos of them laughing together backstage, and the one where AJ found herself wrapped around the Samoan powerhouse. "Now that's interesting," Hunter said, and he let a slight grin cross his features. "I'll keep this in mind...for future reference. Thanks Vickie," he said, and Vickie quickly nodded, running out of the office. Randy shook his head, laughing at the nerves of Vickie before staring the Game back in the face.

"You mean, that punk is the reason AJ's boyfriend keeps coming after me? I'm going to destroy him!" Batista roared, as Hunter put the photos into his briefcase for later. "It's been a late night guys. Get out my office. You didn't even win tonight's SmackDown main event and you showed fear against the Shield and Bryan. I mean, you even left my Director of Operations high and dry. So if they want war, then we'll give them a war. See you both Monday," Hunter said, picking up his belongings and departing the office.

* * *

The powerhouse Roman Reigns took a look at his surroundings around him, whiffing the air. It definitely smelt like crawfish, crab, and other various types of bayou foods and seafood. That's what it always smelt like whenever the WWE paid a trip down south to New Orleans. Not that he was complaining; he always enjoyed different atmospheres and cultures. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Roman had gotten a variety of events that transpired over the past week, and he honestly didn't know what to expect next. He had closed the door on AJ, at least he thought, and had speared the COO of the company, Triple H. While his Shield brothers Dean and Seth were pigging out in the chef's kitchen along with other Superstars and Divas, Roman sat on the skylit roof of the building, peering down on the city below. This symbolized where he one day wanted to be: on top of the WWE mountain and the face of the company. He believed it was something that every guy had to work hard for, and earn. After all, if you're not aiming for #1, then what were you doing here?

The roof to the top opened up and Roman looked to see Renee Young of all people emerge from the hotel. Her hair was very tussled, and the wind made it blow even more. Roman slightly grinned; it looked great for her but nothing could top his long Samoan hair. After all, he had seen extreme Shield fangirls come to the shows and actually try to cut a lock of it off before security apprehended them. Gotta love the WWE Universe.

Renee made her way towards the powerful Samoan, taking a seat next to him as she sipped on her drink, mixed in with a bit of cocktail. "Hey Roman, how's it hanging?" she asked, with a smile. Roman simply shrugged, and continued to stare out into the city. "I see your hair got messed with," he said lowly, prompting Renee to make a sad face and start poking him in the arm.

"That's a pretty awesome tattoo Roman. Care to tell me what it means?" Renee asked, a curious gaze on her face. Roman raised an eyebrow at her, pondering for a moment. "Are you recording this for Backstage Fallout?" She giggled and shook her head no. "Alright, well it means family, honor, and warrior. Where I come from, all three of those are all equally the most important thing that matters." He flexed it slightly, not meaning to show off, but well, okay just to show it off.

"I see you've got some of your cousin the Rock's signature charisma. Or cockiness if that's what you really want to call it. Reminds me of his segments with Lillian from back in the day," she snickered, taking another sip of her drink. Roman tilted his head back for a moment, before rotating to stare back at Renee with a rare, goofy grin on his face.

"So, since you're comparing us to Rock and Lilian from back in the day? I guess that means you want to try some-" Renee beat him to the punch. "Strudel!" she said, bursting into a fit of laughter as her drink fell out of her hand and off the edge of the building. "Hey you said it, not me," Roman countered, taking in the humor of the situation as well.

"That's adorable Roman. Adorably hilarious," she said, catching her breath before staring at him once more. 'A girl could get lost in your eyes or you period,' she thought to herself. Roman smirked, already knowing exactly what she may have been thinking. "Baby girl, if you want to touch my face, nobody's stopping you," he said, turning up the charm a bit.

"Umm I wasn't uh...well I mean…" Renee staggered with her words, nervously ricocheting out unpronouncable syllables. She nervously brushed her gold blonde hair back behind her ears trying to look the other way, but Roman gently tilted her head back so that they were face to face. "Hey now, I don't bite. I do roar though," he said, with a grin and leaned into her lips.  
Just as they were about to lock, the entrance to the roof exploded and Dean came crashing onto the roof sprawling and gasping for air like he just had a panic attack. "What's your deal man?" Roman asked Dean, inwardly angry for ruining yet another moment for him. "Where have you been man?! Somebody let a live alligator loose into the hotel! That thing almost ate me, but luckily I escaped," the unmethodical Ambrose said, trying to shake himself back into reality.

"Where's Seth?" Roman asked. Right on cue, Seth emerged from the entrance, a ticked off look on his face as he looked at Dean. "Why the hell did you leave me down there to fend for myself?! I would have gotten eaten if John Cena hadn't manhandled that ugly gator," Seth said, his breathing coming to a regular pace again. After Dean shrugged, Seth flicked him off and looked towards Roman and Renee. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked.

Unaware, Renee didn't realize Roman had his arm coiled around her waist with her arms around his large frame as well. Jumping away rather quickly, she kicked off her heels and jetted towards the exit, leaving Seth without an answer. "You guys have horrible timing," Roman quipped, prompting Dean to respond, who was still breathing heavily from his encounter with the alligator.

"S-s-screw ya-you Roman," he said, as he collapsed in front of them. "If only Emma could see this right now. Your little girlfriend would love this," Seth retorted, pulling out his phone and recording the crazy Ambrose. Roman adjusted his vest, keeping his hands clutched to it. Staring across the street at the top of another hotel was the just as sadistic AJ, who had a curious gaze plastered upon her face with her head cocked on the right.

Roman stared her down as well; AJ was still somewhere in his head, and although some parts of him did miss what they were building, she was engaged now and was bound to soon marry CM Punk. That's just the way it had to be.

Confused mind, bursting hearts, and lost souls.

**Thanks for reading everybody! I do want to take a moment to pay tribute to the Ultimate Warrior who recently passed. Thank you Warrior for all your contributions and memories you left us with during your storied career. Your career is forever immortalized and you deserve your place in the Hall of Fame that you have. Rest in peace.**

**Leave a review and don't forget to stay tuned for the next chapter!  
-Ronnie**


	9. Line In The Sand

**Chapter 9: Lines In the Sand**

The Shield stood around with their hound masks on, decked out in their usual black gear as they zoned in on the match between both the Usos and former World Champions Batista and Randy Orton. It seemed like it was turning into yet another repeat of the previous week's encounter, which resulted in the Usos getting destroyed by the former teammates. Jimmy Uso had even taken a Batista Bomb onto the steel steps as one result of the carnage. The Usos weren't going to take that lying down, hence requesting a rematch on this week's RAW.

"I gotta hand it to your cousins Roman. These clowns just don't quit," Dean quipped, watching on as Orton got hit with a Vaulting Body Press on the outside of the ring. That prompted Roman to shrug his shoulders and grin a bit under the mask. "That's the thing about my family though Dean. We never quit, unlike some people," he retorted.

"Hey! That wasn't my fault what happened at Elimination Chamber. I got assaulted with a steel pipe and that crap hurts man, it really does," Dean fired back, turning his attention back to the screen. Randy was outside the ring once more for the millionth time, ripping off the top of the announcer's table and letting his fury be unleashed as Batista speared Jey Uso.

"It's go time boys," Seth called out, and the Hounds of Justice immediately made their way to the ring. Storming through the crowd, Seth Rollins leapt the barricade and started to assault Orton along with Dean, as Roman took it straight to Batista. The crowd popped huge during the entire fight, with Dean and Seth sending Randy flying into the barricade as the Viper slithered away. Roman landed a thunderous Superman Punch, sending a dazed Batista over the top rope.

Randy helped Batista up and as the duo backed up the ramp, the Shield stared them down immensely, sending a message to the former World Champions that the future was now and injustice wouldn't rear its ugly head. Not with the Hounds of Justice around.

As soon as the Animal and the Viper disappeared through the curtains, a smirking and trollish Hunter stood there with his wife Stephanie, shaking their heads. "Told ya," Hunter said, and the rulers of the WWE were on their way. "I hate to say it Dave, but I think big nose there might be right after all," Randy pointed out.

"Yeah, neither of us will be able to claim our title shot rematches if those freakin' hounds keep getting in our way. I say we team up and deal with them, then once we put them out their misery, we go back to being bitter enemies," Batista compromised. Randy scoffed, but then offered out his hand in agreement.

"And they say you don't actually have a brain," Randy commented as Batista reluctantly shook his hand. "I could say the same thing about you having a spine," the Animal retorted. "Now come on, let's go let Hunter know. It's time for a reunion I think," he said and the two stars from the Ruthless Aggression era set out to handle their business.

**Elsewhere Backstage**

"Run Brad run!" Seth shouted as the RAW general manager ran everywhere backstage, scrambling all over the place like his very life depended on it. The Hounds of Justice had placed a live raccoon(Dean's idea) inside of Mark Henry's bag right before Brad Maddox had approached them. The Shield were set to have a tag match against some mystery opponents tonight, and unfortunately Brad had to be the bearer of bad news.

Also, unfortunately for Brad, Bad News Barrett wasn't the one to deliver the bad news. Since the Hounds had some issues with Brad dating all the way back to late 2012, they decided to have some fun with him. However, it's always fun and games until somebody gets hurt, and when the raccoon jumped out of the bag and attacked Henry's face, he automatically accused the first person he saw: Brad Maddox.

"I'm gonna get you guys for this!" Brad yelled out, his voice echoing through the halls as Henry chased him all the way through the parking lot. Roman chuckled to himself; he loved his WWE family. That was one of the main things he enjoyed about being in this company and in this profession.

"Hey Roman, Dean and I are gonna go hit up that catering table over there, you want anything? Gotta eat something before our big main event match tonight," Seth asked, flexing his Crossfit gear. Roman shook his head, checking his phone. There was a text message from the Black Widow herself, AJ Lee. "I'm good Seth. Gonna head to the locker room, get ready for a bit longer tonight," Roman commented.

"Alright man, suit yourself," Seth said, and followed Dean over to catering, who was already wolfing down food at a moment's notice. Roman raised a curious eyebrow as he departed in his own direction and headed towards the upper levels of the arena, where he found AJ leaning against the wall, wearing the black and yellow CM Punk hoodie of all things.

"You wanted to meet April?" Roman said, hands clutched to his Shield vest as always. He had an eerie suspicion that something here was up. "Yeah," AJ meekly said, and that summed it up for Roman right there. "You luring me into a trap?" Roman asked, slightly impressed, but only half amused.

"You could say that," a voice from behind Roman said. Roman watched the smaller man emerge from the shadows, revealing himself to be the enigmatic CM Punk. "Hey Roman, how's it going? The one guy from the Shield who actually beat me," Punk said, circling the Samoan powerhouse as Roman studied him carefully. Punk was pretty unpredictable after all; Roman witnessed what he did to his cousin the Rock on RAW 1000.

"I wanna know something Roman. What's your connection to AJ?" Punk inquired, as Roman stared him down. "Wish I knew Punk, but you might wanna ask her that question," Roman said, nodding towards the Black Widow, who stood against the wall, acknowledging what was happening. "I would, but then again, I know I can trust her word, unlike some people around here," Punk fumed. "So let me ask you again in a different way. Have you been trying to do things to AJ that might make it look like she's cheating on me? Because I guarantee you, that's not the case."

"I don't know how that sociopathic mind of yours clicks or works Punk, but just remember this: you're the one trying to keep a leash on her. You're the one who has trust issues. If you're this paranoid about someone taking her away from you, then how about you bring your ass back to work?" Roman stated, plain as day. A cocky laugh from the Second City Saint turned into a menacing stare real quick as he bucked Roman with his chest to no effect.

"Listen to me Roman. This is your one and only warning. If I see or hear about you talking to AJ or attempting to do something with her, I'm gonna kick your ass. If I see or hear about you hurting AJ in any way imaginable, I'm gonna kick your ass. And if you even think about trying to take my friends out just to get to her, I'm gonna kick your ass, just like I did your cousin Dwaynnnneeeee," Punk said in a mocking tone. With one last menacing glare, the Straightedge Superstar went into the elevator to head back down to the lower levels of the arena and depart without being seen.

After he left, Roman looked over to AJ who coldly stared at him. "Roman, I think you need to know something. That other night, I saw you on that rooftop. Are you and Renee..?" she started, but Roman automatically shook his head. "No, we're not together and we're not an item. But even if we were, what would it matter to you?" Roman wittily snapped, turning his back to the Jersey native.

"A lot actually. More than you would think Roman. But I have some news for you too," AJ calmly said, not fazed by the ferocity shown by the powerhouse. "I went to Vince and I requested some time off…" she said, awaiting his response. Roman turned back around to face her, staring deep into her dark brown eyes. "You requested time off?" She nodded. "Let's just say it's for the best. I've got a lot of things coming up in my life that I have to attend to," she told Roman, who had closed his eyes and was staring down at the ground. Something wasn't adding up here.

"I'm sure you do. There's something you're not telling me though, and I think it's safe to assume you won't tell me either," Roman surmised, with AJ nodding her head. "Except for that last part. I'm not hiding anything. I'm telling you that I've got a wedding to plan, and an amazing man to marry," she said, shoving her hands into her shorts pockets.

"You don't say?" Roman tossed his hair back. Staring down AJ, he leaned over to the side of her ear and whispered, "All's fair in love and war, and you definitely love the wars we have." A dark smirk overcame AJ's face, but luckily she was able to contain herself, but not before Roman gave her a hot, lingering kiss that sent electricity up AJ's spine. "Enjoy your time off."

Roman walked out and back to the lower floor, leaving AJ alone with her thoughts.

The Shield vs ?

Well, this wasn't much of a surprise to anybody really, unless you were just clearly that dumb. Pretty much all of the roster's midcard heels came out to face the Shield in what was now being billed as an 11-on-3 handicap match. It was just like the Authority to stack the deck against the opposition and make it nearly impossible for their enemy to win.

As the big crowd of heels gathered together, they immediately sent in Heath Slater first, who got decimated by the Shield with all three of their finishers, following that up with tossing him over the top rope onto all the heels that were there. "You ain't nothing Reigns!" Titus O'Neil barked at Roman, who laughed hysterically at him. "You're a big dog, but you got no bark or bite," Roman said, and just like that, Titus stormed the ring followed by all of his partners, and they started to rip the Shield apart.

Roman, Seth, and Dean all made valiant efforts to defend themselves and each other as well, but the odds this time around were just too much to overcome. Del Rio hit a sick Enzugiri kick that put Dean down. The new NXT callup Alexander Rusev hit a sick spinning Sidewalk Slam on Seth, who looked like he was bent in half. Even Roman was forced to eat his words, as Titus hit the Samoan savage with his signature Sit Down Spinebuster.

The Shield laid there in a sprawled out heap, dazed and in pain, not knowing exactly what was going to happen next. "My achin' neck," Dean complained, trying to roll over on his stomach and attempt to pick himself up, not having any success whatsoever. "Come on boys, we'll get the Authority back for this," Seth said, hanging on against the middle rope. Roman still laid flat on his back, staring up at the arena lights. "Need strength," he said, closing his eyes. And that's when the nail in the coffin finally occured.

A theme that had not been heard since 2005, blared on the arena speakers and it immediately occurred to the wrestlers themselves and fans everywhere what the Shield were in for next.

Evolution.

The trio of Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista slowly made their way down the ramp. Randy and Batista were both cracking their knuckles, and swinging their arms, fully prepared to dish out some damage. Triple H rolled up his sleeves, disconnecting his cuff links and cracked his wrists. He also slightly unbuttoned his shirt, as if he was some clean mob boss who was about to get their hands dirty.

As soon as Evolution entered the ring, the Shield bombarded them with an assault, but they were easily overpowered by the veterans. Batista delivered a spear to Dean Ambrose, sending the unorthodox member of the Shield down for the count. Next up was Roman Reigns, who both Orton and Batista assaulted viciously. After wearing down the powerhouse, Batista hit a bombastic Batista Bomb on him, roaring in his face as the prone Reigns lay before him.

Seth Rollins tried flying in to the rescue, but Hunter easily kicked him in the gut and tossed him to Randy, who delivered an emphatic RKO. Seth then ate yet another Batista Bomb from the Animal, leaving him on the back of his head for at least a complete eight seconds. Grabbing Dean once more, Hunter delivered stiff rights to the head of Ambrose, and threw him to Randy who gave him another RKO.

The crowd booed loudly at their dissatisfaction of seeing Evolution dominate the ring once again. Roman however, refused to quit. Gathering enough willpower, Roman grabbed the pants of Hunter, trying to stand on his own two feet, and once he was able to, Hunter immediately kicked him in the gut and hit the dreaded Pedigree, laying him out.

With that powerful statement, the entire WWE had been put on notice. After all, it was all about the power, and not the David Otunga kind either.

**Hope you guys liked the new chapter! Please leave a review (: that's very important! Stay tuned for the next chapter. More surprises on the way!**

**-Ronnie**


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